Nearer, My God, To Thee

Four days after the heartrending tragedy in Clarence, New York, about 100 family members visited the site where their loved ones died in the crash of Continental Flight 3407. Arriving in buses and vans and with a police escort, they carried flowers, wreaths and teddy bears, and spent about an hour there before boarding the buses and returning to their hotel. We can't even comprehend what they must be going through. A close friend of ours has a brother who works for Continental, and flew up from Texas over the weekend to help conduct the families and assist them in whatever way he could. God bless him, too, as there probably isn't anyone on this planet who'd want his job today.

For all of them, and for those whom God received home Thursday night, the beautiful hymn (another of my favorites) "Nearer, My God, To Thee," composed by by Sarah F. Adams in 1841 and sung by the Sharon Singers of the Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute. The last two verses, which I've reproduced below the video, speak so much hope for them and for all who grieve.

Or if on joyful wing,
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.

There in my Father’s home,
Safe and at rest,
There in my Savior’s love,
Perfectly blest;
Age after age to be,
Nearer my God to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee.