Desert Island Hymns

Today’s Desert Island hymn choice comes from Rev’d Dr David Keep and is found in the MHB of 1954 281 “Go not my soul in search of him”. Interestingly, this hymn comes from a Unitarian Minister, Frederick Lucian Hosmer, born in Framingham, Massachusetts, on October 16, 1840, the son of Charles and Susan Hosmer. He graduated from Harvard College in 1862 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1869. Unitarianism  is a Christian theological movement that believes that the God in Christianity is one entity, as opposed to a Trinity. Most other branches of Christianity define God as one being in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy SpiritUnitarian Christians, therefore, believe that  Jesus was inspired by God  in his moral teachings, and he is a saviour, but he was not a deity or God incarnate.

In his earlier years he was known as a beloved pastor and an acceptable preacher, his most successful pastorate being that in Cleveland, where he built up a strong and influential church.

On October 26, 1869, he was ordained minister of the First Congregational Church (Unitarian) of Northborough, Massachusetts, where he remained for three years followed by pastorates at a number of Unitarian Churches right through to the early 1900s.  

It was not until he approached middle life that he began to write hymns and many of these were to mark special occasions, the most notable instance being his great hymn “O prophet souls of all the years,” written for the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, to capture the vision and spirit of that watershed meeting.

It has been said of Frederick Hosmer that he "...was a man of highest ethical standards and keen religious insight. He was never married, but he was a beloved friend and a delightful companion who could entertain with witty impromptu verse as well as illuminate conversation with profound thought. Esteemed as he was as a parish minister, his hymns were the great and lasting contribution which he made to the religious life of his time."

Go not, my soul, in search of Him,

Thou wilt not find him there,

Or in the depths of shadow dim,

Or heights of upper air.

For not in far off realms of space

The Spirit hath his throne;

In every heart he findeth place

And waiteth to be known.

Thought answereth alone to thought,

And soul with soul hath kin:

The outward God he findeth not

Who finds not God within.

And if the vision come to thee

Revealed by inward sign,

Earth will be full of Deity,

And with his glory shine.

Thou shalt not want for company

Nor pitch thy tent alone;

The indwelling God will go with thee,

And show thee of his own.

O gift of gifts! O grace of grace!

That God should condescend

To make thy heart his dwelling place

And be thy daily Friend!