SUNSHINE!!

Yesterday was a beautiful morning, and I was reading in the Book of Ecclesiastes when I came to these words in Chapter 11 --

     "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:"  My mind went immediately to the lovely song, "Sunshine in my Soul" by Eliza Hewitt.  I looked in my book of Hymn Stories, and found this account of the story behind the writing of this lovely gospel song!  I trust it will be a blessing to your heart today.

     "James S. Hewitt was a young sailor who kept a journal that tells of harrowing storms, shipwrecks, near escapes---and an earnest faith!  One entry tells of a voyage to China in which he was surrounded by a rough, irreligious body of men who paid no attention of any duty to God on the Sabbath, or on any other day.  Oaths, card-playing, etc., marked their conduct when at leisure.  James, deeply saddened, would slip off to quiet spots to read his Bible and pray.

      It was into this Christian home that a daughter was born in 1851.  Little Eliza grew up in the nurture of the Lord.  She was a teenager during the Civil War, but she managed to concentrate on school well enough to graduate valedictorian of her class.  She displayed an unusual love for children, and after further study she became a school teacher.

      In 1887, while teaching at the Northern Home for Friendless Children, Eliza was struck by an unruly student.  He slammed his slate across her, severely injuring her back.  The doctor placed her in a heavy cast for six months, and Eliza was virtually immobile, perhaps wondering if she would ever walk again.  When the cast was removed, the doctor told her to take a short walk in nearby Fairmont Park.  It was a warm spring day, and she was overcome with joy.  Returning home, she picked up her pen and immediately wrote the hymn, "Sunshine in My Soul."

      Her injuries were severe enough to preclude school teaching, so she devoted herself to Bible study and hymn writing.  Eliza lived many more years, and wrote scores of hymns, including -- "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place", "When We All Get To Heaven", and "Will There Be Any Stars In My Crown"?

Eliza died in 1920, and her grave reads simply --- "Eliza Edmunds Hewitt, Hymnwriter, author of Sunshine in My Soul."

     "There is sunshine in my soul today, more glorious and bright

Than glows in any earthly sky, for Jesus is my light.

      There is music in my soul today, a carol to my King;

And Jesus, listening, can hear the songs I cannot sing.

      There is springtime in my soul today, for when the Lord is near

The dove of peace sings in my heart, the flowers of grace appear.

      There is gladness in my soul today, and hope and praise and love,

For blessings which He gives me now-- for joys "laid up" above.

      Oh, there's sunshine -- blessed sunshine,

While the peaceful, happy moments roll.

      When Jesus shows His smiling face,

There is sunshine in my soul"!