memories...

last week as we waited for little "Ace" (one of our Gentle Hands hospice care patients) to die after a long excruciating battle with brain cancer, a song came to my memory, an old hymn that we used to sing as children. the verse about the child with an aching head echoed in my mind, and i wanted to sing it in memory of this sweet child whose final days were painful beyond belief. i can hear my dad's voice ringing out on the chorus: 'Christ is all, all in all"...the tune is lilting and Irish, so it really suited his tenor voice. i found the words on line as i could only recall verse 1. what a marvelous old hymn of assurance and testimony that Christ Jesus is indeed our all in all.

I entered once a home of care,
Old age and penury were there,
Yet peace and joy withal;
I ask’d the lonely mother whence
Her helpless widowhood’s defence,
She told me, “Christ was all”.

Christ is all, all in all,
Yes, Christ is all in all,
Christ is all, all in all,
Yes, Christ is all in all.

I stood beside a dying bed
Where lay a child with aching head,
Waiting for Jesus' call;
I mark’d his smile,
‘Twas sweet as May,
And as his spirit passed away,
He whispere’d, “Christ is all”.

I saw the martyr at the stake,
The flames could not his courage shake,
Nor death his soul appall;
I asked him whence his strength was giv’n,
He look’d triumphantly to heav’n,
And answered, “Christ is all”.