Rudyard Kipling – death, Jan. 18, 1936

God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far flung battle line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word—
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord!

Joseph Rudyard Kipling died this day (1/18/1936) in London, England.  He was known both as a writer of poetry and prose.  Here is a hymn as well.  Both of his grandfathers were ministers, one a Methodist.  He was a Brit who was born in India, who married an American, who took their honeymoon in Japan and even lived four years in Vermont.  

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George Washington Carver – death, Jan. 5, 1943

“May the Lord poor out his choicest blessings upon you and your work.  Yours for Christ, Geo. W. Carver.  (close of a letter written to Booker T. Washington, May 8, 1896)

   -Basil Miller, George Washington Carver, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1943), 56.

 

“You never saw a heavy thinker with his mouth open.  Stop talking so much…”

   -Basil Miller, George Washington Carver, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1943), 124.

 

Ninety-nine per cent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.

   -Basil Miller, George Washington Carver, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1943), 131.

 

Holding up before the audience a dinosaur tooth…he said, “There is no conflict between Genesis and geology or any true science.”

   -Basil Miller, George Washington Carver, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1943), 139.

 

“It is not we little men who do the work but it is our blessed Creator working through us…other people can have this power, if they only believe.  The secret lies” – touching his Bible which was on his desk – “right here, in the promises of God.  They are real, but so few people believe them to be real.”

   -Basil Miller, George Washington Carver, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1943), 161.

 

George Washington Carver died this day (1/5/1943).  He was truly one of America’s greatest scientists.    

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Adelaide Pollard – death, Dec. 20, 1934

“Have Thine Own Way”

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit ’till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.

Adelaide Addison Pollard wrote this hymn in 1907.  She died this date 12/20/1934 in NYC (was born 11/27/1862).  Pollard, in addition to writing some 100 hymns spent some time (pre WWI) in Africa and taught at the Missionary Training School,  Nyack .

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James L Nicholson – death, Nov.6, 1876

“Whiter Than Snow”  (stanza 1)

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

This was song was written by James Nicholson, a native of Ireland.  He made America his adopted land.  James died this day in Washington DC but was buried back in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he had worked for the Post Office.

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