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LOST IN THE NIGHT
Lost in the night
do the people yet languish, longing for morning the darkness to
vanquish,
plaintively
heaving a sigh full of anguish. Will not day come soon? Will not
day come soon?
Must we be vainly
awaiting the morrow? Shall those who have light no light let us
borrow,
giving no heed to
our burden of sorrow? Will you help us soon? Will you help us
soon?
Sorrowing
wand’rers, in darkness yet dwelling, dawned has the day of a
radiance excelling,
death’s dreaded
darkness forever dispelling. Christ is coming soon! Christ is
coming soon!
Light o’er the
land of the needy is beaming; rivers of life through its deserts
are streaming,
bringing all
peoples a Savior redeeming. Come and save us soon! Come and save
us soon!
Text: Finnish
song; tr. Olav Lee, 1859-1943, alt.
© 1932 Augsburg
Publishing House, admin. Augsburg Fortress
I first heard and
sang this hymn in the seminary choir in Chicago in 1961. A tenor
from Latvia sang the first verse in a beautiful, haunting voice
that I can hear in my head to this day. He was part of a church
full of Latvians who had fled their country during the second
world war. For a time they were lost in the night and languished,
longing for morning their darkness to vanquish. They were
plaintively sighing with hearts full of anguish. The Lutheran
World Federation helped them find "morning" and a new day in the
United States. They represent all the lost people, refugees from
war, all over the world.
There are people
with a burden of sorrow everywhere. And we who have light must not
only lend it to them, but give it freely for them to keep. We
won't lose any light that we share. The most moving experiences of
my life have been when people with burdens of inner pain from
mental, emotional and physical abuse received help from people who
knew how to bring the light of Christ into the darkness of fear
and anger. Help came soon. Christ came and helped through loving
people.
The death of loved ones brings the deepest shadows. My first
funeral was for a 19-year-old girl who was killed in an automobile
accident. Her father, mother and younger sister were sorrowing
wanderers for a long period of grieving. The power of Christ's
light coming to them gave them the dawning of a new day of
radiance.
Dear Lord, planet Earth is a land of the needy. Let the light
of Christ come to us as awareness of our oneness with you and all
other people. Help us to keep on singing for the rivers of life to
stream through the deserts, bringing all people the Savior’s
redeeming.
The
Rev. Paul Reimers, retired |
