Strength to meet our trials
As I watched the funeral service for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in December 2023, my ears perked up as the choir at the Washington National Cathedral sang “Day by day and with each passing moment,” a contemporary arrangement by Michael McCarthy (b. 1966). The familiar words, translated by the Covenant musician A. L. Skoog, were timely for a grieving nation.
These lyrics are also timeless, written nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. They speak of the Lord’s help at those inevitable intersections on life’s journey. It is a hymn that has been at the heart of my 45-year ministry. “Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, e’er to take, as from a father’s hand, one by one, the days, the moments fleeting, till I reach the promised land.” My youngest daughter sang this hymn with me as a duet on Father’s Day. And curiously this hauntingly beautiful hymn originally flowed out of the broken heart of a woman who had an exceptionally close relationship with her own pastor-father.
Lina Sandell was born in Fröderyd, Sweden in 1832. Because of frail health, the Lutheran pastor’s daughter spent most of her childhood indoors while the neighborhood kids played outdoors. Her favorite place was in her father’s study. She loved being near to the man she adored. The partial paralysis that plagued her body left her in bed much of the time. The doctors offered little hope that her condition would ever improve.
One Sunday when Lina was twelve, she had a profound experience that opened her eyes to her Heavenly Father’s love. While her parents were at church, Lina was at home reading her Bible and praying. Without explanation, she found the unexpected strength to get out of bed and dress herself. When Pastor Sandell and his wife returned home, they found a healthy daughter freely walking. It was a miracle!
Lina’s supernatural healing resulted in a growing sensitivity to the Lord. She began to write poetry as a means of expressing her gratitude to God. She published a volume of her work at the age of 16. Seven years later she wrote a hymn that celebrated the fatherlike compassion of God. “Children of the Heavenly Father” pictured a loving Father who envelops those who belong to Him in protective arms in good and bad times.
When Lina was 26 a tragic event would find her trusting in her “Father’s wise bestowment” more than ever. She and her father were enjoying an excursion on Lake Vättern when the boat on which they were passengers suddenly lurched causing Pastor Sandell to lose his balance and fall overboard. To her horror, Lina watched her beloved daddy drown.
Amazingly, by the time Lina celebrated her 28th birthday, she had lost her father and her mother and her sister to death. Truly her trust in a loving Father was tested. For five years she navigated the slippery slope of grief all the while reflecting on God’s grace against the backdrop of loss.
When she was 33, the words of “Day by Day” flowed from her pen. They offered a theology of hope in the midst of suffering and pain. As was true in “Children of the Heavenly Father,” Lina compared God’s faithful care to that of an earthly dad. Given her unusually close relationship to her late father, she had just cause to make such a comparison. And Lina knew only too well the intersection of toil and trouble. What she didn’t know is that she would find herself at those crossroads yet again.
Two years after writing “Day by Day,” Lina married Oscar Berg, a wholesale merchant who would become a member of Sweden’s parliament. Their only child, a girl, was stillborn. Later Oscar would lose his business. Still, Lina found the ability to hold on to the Father’s hand a day at a time.
Day by day, and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest.
When the memorial service for Justice O’Connor drew to an end, I was moved. The tributes celebrating her remarkable life were poignant and inspirational. Having learned that the deceased had planned many of the details of her service in advance of her dementia, I took note. This woman, whose adult life had been punctuated by legal trials as well as physical ones, resonated with the words Lina Sandell had penned so long before. Like the songwriter, Justice O’Connor had learned to live a day at a time.