This hymn was written by Washington Gladden who lived from 1836 to 1918; what an excellent name for a preacher! The truth however was that this Congregational minister did little to gladden the hearts of most of his listeners, at least in the early days. "Stirrer" might have been a more fitting name, as he was accustomed to being at the heart of a controversy. Washington had become an orphan at the age of 6, and went to live on the farm of his uncle in Potts, Pennsylvania. At the age of 22 he was ordained, serving churches in Brooklyn and Massachusetts for eleven years. As well as preaching he loved writing articles and was good at it, too. So when the post of Religious Editor on the "New York Independent" became vacant he slotted in very nicely. If only the newspaper owners had known what trouble he was going to cause them they wouldn't have been so keen to employ him.

These were tough times in the city. Life was very hard for those living in the filthy slums, working in the sweat shops for unscrupulous employers. And what were the politicians doing about it? They were thriving on it. For every dollar spent on the city they were keeping ten for themselves, keeping in power with the financial assistance of the "Robber Barons". Corruption was rife and Washington Gladden used his newspaper column to expose more than a few scandals.

He was an excellent investigative journalist and saw it as his Christian duty to pursue these greedy men until all their shady dealings were exposed. The readers loved him but the advertisers, who were involved in most of the illegal rackets, did not. They threatened to withdraw their custom from the newspaper and Washington was sacked.

Silenced he would never be. He was a man with a mission and, denied the printed press, he used the pulpit instead. For 32 years he preached the social gospel in his church in Ohio. He got involved in strikes, addressing the workers in the coal and telegraph industries. He lectured students on social philosophy and was made President of a number of universities. He even criticised his own Congregational church for accepting a one hundred thousand dollar donation from J.D.Rockefeller, condemning the gift as "tainted money".

As you can imagine his sermons did not go down well with his flock; they believed that the business of a minister was to save souls, not regulate business, but Washington pressed on, believing that what he was doing was the only way to interpret the gospel of Jesus Christ. "The simple truth", he said, "is that Religion is nothing but Friendship, Friendship with God and with man". He wrote only a few poems but the one that forms the hymn "0 Master, let me walk with Thee" reflects his longing for that constant companionship with his Lord.

The original poem had this verse:

Rather appropriate I think for this election period! !

By the end of his life Washington Gladden was a highly respected man, and many more had come to see the truth in his words and actions, and reform movements were spreading. This hymn stands as a memorial to his dogged Christian witness in the face of high level corruption and exploitation.

Older readers who remember Grace Robins (nee Gregory) will be saddened to hear of her death recently, at the age of 89. Grace was an active worker in our church in my young days and still took a lively interest in TBC after she left the area, for many years living in Bexhill. We are sure she is now in the presence of her Lord.

Preaching one day on the intimacy of prayer, David Watson illustrated this by pointing to the reredos in St. Michael-le-Belfrey Church, York, where the Lord's Prayer is written in full. The sign-writer had difficulty getting each phrase onto a separate line, so the Lord's Prayer begins - beautifully and simply -

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