FATHER, I KNOW THAT ALL MY LIFE

Heather Allington

Heather writes for Sunday Song Book on behalf of the The Salvation Army Oshawa. As a lifelong member of the Army, she has loved these familiar - and some less familiar - songs for many years, and enjoys researching and writing about their origins. She is a wife, mother, grandmother and retired elementary school teacher who likes trying her hand at watercolour painting and poetry writing.

Father, I know that all my life
Is portioned out for me;
The changes that will surely come
I do not fear to see;
I ask Thee for a patient mind,
Intent on pleasing Thee.

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love,
Through constant watching, wise,
To meet the glad with joyful smiles,
And wipe the weeping eyes;
A heart at leisure from itself,
To soothe and sympathize.

I ask Thee for the daily strength
To none that ask denied,
A mind to blend with outward life
While keeping at Thy side;
Content to fill a little space
If Thou be glorified.

In service which Thy love appoints
There are no bonds for me;
My secret heart is taught the truth
That makes Thy children free:
A life of self-renouncing love
Is one of liberty.

Wherever in the world I am,
In whatsoe’er estate,
I have a fellowship with hearts
To keep and cultivate,
A work of lowly love to do
For Him on whom I wait.

A song expressing consistent trust in the Lord, no matter what changes life may bring our way! Many of its phrases refer to serving others in ordinary, daily tasks – the kind we all can be aware of and perform if we look beyond ourselves.

Anna Waring was born in Wales in 1823, and worshipped the Lord in the Quaker tradition. At the age of 19, she joined the Church of England. She studied Hebrew and daily read from the Psalms in the original text. She was particularly drawn to helping people in prison, and worked for the Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society .

Anna wrote about 40 hymns, and they were published in different editions of her Hymns and Meditations between 1850 and 1863. She died in 1910, having certainly lived “a life of self-renouncing love”.