Christ is all, and in all.
Colossians 3:11
Words: Emma C. Dowd, in Echoes of Paradise (Boston, Massachusetts: Charles H. Woodman, 1903), number 167.
Music: Toowong Thoro Harris, 1903 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Dowd (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels), or a better one of Harris,
Be Thou my friend, my close companion ever;
Earth’s paths diverge as comrades onward wend;
Friends may depart, but Thou, O leave me never!
Be Thou my friend, be Thou my friend.
Be Thou my strength, for I am full of weakness;
In Thee alone can I be strong at length;
Help me to lean on Thee in trust and meekness;
Be Thou my strength, be Thou my strength.
Be Thou my life: no other one can feed me;
I, weary, faint, so worn with pain and strife;
There living waters flow, O gently lead me;
Be Thou my life, be Thou my life.
Be Thou my all; for terrors oft enfold me,
The vasts of Thy great universe appall;
Closer to Thy dear heart, yet closer hold me!
Be Thou my all, be Thou my all.