Toward the end of his ministry, he was the pastor at the 2,000-member St. Bernard's Parish Church in Edinburgh. He died in 1906 at the age of sixty-four.

Of the many sermons that he preached, none could have had a more far-reaching impact than "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go." The beautiful music that has carried it all over the world was written by Albert Peace, the organist and music director of The Scottish Hymnal. His words express another miracle:

"After reading the poem carefully, I wrote the music straight off, and must say that the ink of the first note was hardly dry when I had finished the tune."

Through these two powerful ministers, I believe that God spoke of His intentional will for love. For some, love may become shallow and wrought with pain, while others may never know the precious love of a blessed marriage.

But there is no doubt that all of God's children are meant to know the perfect and fulfilling love of our Heavenly Father who created us to experience that fulfillment.

O God, we bring our total being to You. Sometimes we come in pain and questioning, but are assured of Your love. What a joy to dig deep into your Holy Word and see Your love most perfectly revealed in Your Son, Jesus Christ. It is a blessing to read, "...we know love because  He laid down his life for us" (I John 3:16). In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Lucy Neeley Adams  has always loved music. She began telling the story of hymns on Christian radio WWGM in Nashville, TN, in the '80s. She then wrote a newspaper column titled "Song Stories" for five years. During that time Lucy's book, 52 Hymn Story Devotions, was published by Abingdon Press in Nashville. Each of the 52 stories contained in the book is written in a devotional format, with the words of the hymn concluding each devotion.
Lucy, dubbed "The hymn lady," can be heard on the first Thursday of each month when she discusses hymn stories during a telephone interview with Michelle Mendoza of "Living Christian".  The program is aired on station  KCIS in Seattle, WA.
Lucy lives at Lake Junaluska, NC, with her minister husband, Woody. They have four children and fourteen grandchildren. She may be reached for comment at lucya424@aol.com. Visit her at 52hymns.com.