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We are formed to enjoy closeness with God. This natural state of the human creature is indicated in the story of Eden. The indication comes through depiction of the universal sense of alienation of humans from the Sacred Presence ...
Right away they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves. Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees. The LORD called out to the man and asked, "Where are you?"
*Genesis 3.7-9 (CEV)
John Keble (1792-1866) expresses well the place of closeness to the Divine in our lives. Keble was the son of an Anglican rural preacher, being born in England. After training at Oxford University, he was professor of poetry at Oxford for ten years. From 1835 until his death in 1866, Keble served as pastor at a small parish church in the village of Hursley, England, with a population of only 1500 persons.
His famous sermon in 1833, “National Apostasy,” is credited with launching the 19th Century Oxford Movement. His “Sun of my Soul,” in Keble’s collection of poems The Christian Year, was never intended to be a hymn. The intent was for the collection to be a devotional companion to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. The poetry collection was very successful, passing through 109 editions in Keble’s lifetime. Proceeds from the book he used to maintain the ministry of his small church.
1 SUN of my soul! thou Saviour dear,
It is not night if thou be near;
O may no earth-born cloud arise,
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes!
2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My wearied eyelids gently steep,
Be my last thought, How sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviour's breast!
3 Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without thee I dare not die.
4 If some poor wandering child of thine
Have spurned to-day the voice divine,
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
Let him no more lie down in sin.
5 Watch by the sick, enrich the poor
With blessings from thy boundless store;
Be every mourner's sleep to-night,
Like infant's slumbers, pure and light.
6 Come near and bless us when we wake,
Ere through the world our way we take,
Till in the ocean of thy love
We lose ourselves in heaven above.
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