Easter 1912: The birth of a timeless hymn that would comfort millions

For the past two decades, I have hosted hymn sings for older folks who miss the good old songs of the faith. In an age when church hymnals have been replaced by modern worship choruses projected on screens, singing while holding a book has become a disappearing phenomenon. And as I pastor, I recognize that not everyone relates to or appreciates singing off-the-wall lyrics.

One of the popular aspects of the hymn sings I lead is sharing the backstory of how beloved hymns came to be written. I refer to these anecdotes as “the him (or her) behind the hymn.” One of my favorite rest-of-the-story hymn histories relates to the most central theme of Christianity that we celebrate this weekend.

As Easter Sunday 1912 drew near, a New Jersey hymn writer by the name of Austin Miles was faced with a challenge. His publisher had asked him to come up with a hymn that was “sympathetic in tone, breathing tenderness in every line; one that will bring hope to the hopeless, rest for the weary, and downy pillows to dying beds.”

Not quite sure how to approach such a specific assignment, Miles retreated to a dark room in his basement where this amateur photographer would go to process his pictures. This time, however, he was hoping for inspiration to develop singable word pictures that would please his publisher.

The hymn writer sat in his dark room lit only by a soft red lamp. He opened his Bible to the 20th chapter of the Gospel of John. It was one of his favorite passages of Scripture. As he read the account of Mary Magdalene arriving at the empty tomb, by his own admission he fell into kind of a trance.

“As I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary’s life,” Miles wrote in his journal.

He found himself in the scene personally observing the interaction between a grieving former prostitute and someone Mary perceived to be the gardener. But then as the risen Christ spoke her name, her sorrow was swallowed up by joy.

Even though that dark March day was cold and dismal outside, it was as though Miles was basking in the warm sunshine of a spring day. He grabbed paper and pen and began to write lyrics inspired by what he’d seen in his vision. Later that evening, he composed music to accompany his words. He called his hymn “In the Garden.”

On Easter Sunday as 1912, as Miles gathered with his wife and other Christian believers to celebrate the good news of Christ’s resurrection, the poem he had just put to original music was no doubt filling his joyful mind and heart.

Not only had he achieved the assignment his publisher had given him in a timely manner, but the trained pharmacist-turned-hymnist had written a timeless hymn.

“In the Garden” with its familiar refrain “and He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own … ” would become one of the most beloved Christian songs of all time. To date, it has been recorded and printed over a million times.

Miles could not have imagined what would take place in the decade that followed the writing of “In the Garden.”

Within a week of that Easter Sunday, families in North America and in the United Kingdom found themselves in need of his comforting words to salve their grieving hearts. On April 14 in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, the Titanic would have a catastrophic collision with an iceberg. Tragically, some 1,500 souls would be lost.

Within two years, World War I would break out in Europe. What would last for more than four years would result in more than 15 million deaths. And as that devastating source of heartache was concluding, the Spanish flu broke out claiming some 50 million lives.

What Austin Miles’ lyrics called to mind for grieving families over the next several years remains a timeless truth. It is a hymn that visualizes the reality of our resurrection hope made possible two millennia ago.

Because of that borrowed grave unexpectedly vacated after only a weekend’s use, Christians around the world can sing with confidence” and He walks with me and He talks with me.”

And now you know the rest of the story!

• The Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos is a former Naperville resident who writes about faith and family.