A single day in your courts
….is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
….than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. Psalm 84:10 NLT

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We’ve all heard of Warner Brothers, but have you ever heard of the Warner sisters? Susan and Anna were born in the early 1800s in the New York City area. Due to some dire financial circumstances, with their father, they relocated to a ramshackle Revolutionary War-era home Constitution Island on the Hudson, right across from the Military Academy at West Point.

To help their family monetarily they both began writing.

One of their most successful joint projects was a novel titled Say and Seal in which a little boy named Johnny Fox is dying. His Sunday school teacher, John Linden, comforts him by taking him in his arms, rocking him, and making up a little song: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so…”

Sound familiar? I’m pretty sure we all know that one! In actuality, the first stanza is the only one to be included in the hymn – word for word.

Before we move on from the Warner sisters, there is one more thing of a noteworthy nature.

For forty years, Susan and Anna conducted Bible classes for cadets at West Point, and both were buried with full military honors. They are the only civilians buried in the military cemetery at West Point. To this day, their home on Constitution Island is maintained by West Point as a museum to their memory.*

But moving on, the song Jesus Loves Me, a well-known tune writer from the era, William Bradbury read John Linden’s words (the poem itself was written by Anna) and wrote a very simple tune that quickly became known the world over.

Bradbury author of many fine hymn tunes, some of which include– He Leadeth Me, Just As I Am, The Solid Rock, Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us, and Sweet Hour of Prayer – has literally impacted thousands over the years. But one we will always remember is the tune to accompany,

Jesus loves me—this I know,
For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to him belong,—
They are weak, but he is strong.

…a truth, so simple, yet so profound!

*Excerpts from Then Sings My Soul, © Robert J. Morgan, 2010,
published by W  Publishing an imprint of Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee

Oct 12th, 2021, Tues, 7:32 pm