Still All My Song Shall Be

Today, at Institute, I was invited to share my insights on the hymn Nearer, My God, to Thee. I thought I'd share them here, too.

To me, this hymn is all about drawing unto the Savior, regardless of your circumstances. In the first first, we sing, "E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me, still all my song shall be nearer, my God, to Thee." The cross here is taken figuratively, representing any sort of trial or hardship. As the hymn implies, our trials can "raise" us toward God by helping us develop Christlike attributes, such as patience and empathy. Thus, when we struggle with problems, we can use those struggles to draw closer to God, and, if we consider the eternal value of the growth we're experiencing, we can even sometimes bring ourselves to thank God for it.

But, thankfully, we don't always struggle. Sometimes, life is relatively easy for us, and this rare condition is represented in the last verse:

Or if, on joyful wing

Cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot,

Upward I fly,

Still all my song shall be

Nearer, my God, to thee,

Nearer, my God, to thee,

Nearer to thee!

I love the repeated lines, "Still all my song shall be nearer, my God, to Thee." It's a good reminder that, no matter how well life is going for us, we still need to remember God and strive to draw closer to Him spiritually, if not physically.

Whether we're cleaving the sky on joyful wing or suffering under the weight of the cross, either experience can bring us closer to God, if we remember to focus on God during the experience. Anything we experience in life, good or bad, can work out to our eternal good, and they are all part of God's plan, so we should strive to follow God's plan by making the most of every experience, whether that means letting our adversity make us more Christlike or staying Christlike even when we're blessed. Countless individuals and some entire civilizations have fallen because they failed to turn to God when times were too bad to have faith in God or too good to think they still needed Him. Let's not make that same mistake. Instead, let us continue to draw nearer to God, no matter whether we're being raised by a cross of suffering or wings of ease.