You In Your Small Corner…

You may not remember Susan Bogert Warner and Anna Bartlett Warner.

While you may not recall their names, I am sure you will these few words that linger still in our hearts from childhood . . . if not the entire verses written by Susan, certainly at least the last two lines . . . “You in your small corner, And I in mine.”

Jesus bids us shine,
With a pure, clear light,
Like a little candle,
Burning in the night.
In this world is darkness,
So let us shine–
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine,
First of all for Him;
Well He sees and knows it,
If our light grows dim;
He looks down from heaven,
To see us shine–
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine,
Then, for all around
Many kinds of darkness
In this world are found –
Sin, and want, and sorrow;
So we must shine,
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Her sister Anna may not strike a chord of recognition either, but we are all thankful that one day, at her sister Susan’s request, Anna wrote the now well-known children’s song, “Jesus Loves Me.” A song sung by millions, passed by one generation to another. Words that never die.
Susan and Anna became devout Christians in the late 1830s. Their father, Henry Warner, was a New York City lawyer originally from New England, and her mother was Anna Bartlett, from a wealthy, fashionable family in New York’s Hudson Square.

Although Henry was a successful lawyer, he lost most of his fortune in the Panic of 1837, and in subsequent lawsuits and poor investments. Hard times forced the family to leave their mansion at St. Mark’s Place in New York and move to an old Revolutionary War-era farmhouse on Constitution Island, near West Point, NY. It was in1849, seeing little change in their family’s financial situation, that Susan and Anna started writing to earn income.

Susan became a popular evangelical writer of religious fiction and children’s fiction. Under the name, Elizabeth Wetherell, she wrote some thirty novels, many of which went into multiple editions, the best known being her first, “The Wide Wide World (1850). Her younger sister, Anna Bartlett Warner, was also a writer, working jointly with her sister, and at other times writing under the pseudonym, Amy Lothrop.
Instead of pining over “what might have been,” the sisters took advantage of their relocation from New York and, along with their writing, began holding Bible studies for the nearby West Point cadets.

Through the years, while on military duty, cadets could often be heard singing, “Jesus Loves Me.” The popularity of the song was so great that upon Warner’s death, she was buried in the West Point Cemetery. The former family home is now a museum on the grounds of The United States Military Academy, which was opposite the house during their lifetimes.

Utilizing giftedness, honing their skills, these two women turned their stressful family downturn into a vital ministry, transforming the lives of many a young Army officer, as well as warming the hearts of millions of children down through the years, whose names they would never know. So simple. Yet so extraordinary!

You may have seen a television commercial in which the primary spokesperson for a certain credit card utters the words “What’s in your wallet?” The idea being, of course, you could do so much more if you only had their credit card in your wallet.

Let me flip the question and ask not “What’s in your wallet,” but “What’s in your heart?” No matter the circumstances you are facing today, do you believe God is in control? During times both of blessing and adversity, is he still at work in your life? Is he still leading? Is he the reason you are living at your address? Or does it seem he has forgotten you? That you are lost in the wilderness? It can feel that way some times.

But like Moses of old, if you listen, perhaps you can hear God’s voice as he asks, “What’s in your hand?” In Moses’ case (thankfully he had no wallet to protect), all he had was a simple shepherd’s staff. But read Moses’ story again. Follow the final third of his life . . . see what he accomplished with that staff and God’s anointing on it.

Wherever you are, whatever you face, give it to God and see what happens. If the economy has you paralyzed, if health issues are all you can see right now, if unwanted change is facing you, hear his voice as he asks, “What’s in your heart?” “What’s in your hand?”

Why not join with me and let’s sing something we both know is true. Ready? “Jesus loves me, this I know . . .” Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?

So let us shine–
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Bless you, friend. Love you. And Jesus loves you better!