Marilyn's Musings
January 27, 2026
I hope everyone is safe after the storm this weekend. I posted a picture I took of my backyard early in the storm saying how peaceful and quiet everything was. It was like that for a while, but then the snow kept coming and coming and piling up. It was still quiet but then the worrying started about the people out in the storm. My son works for PSE&G and my grandson shovels for a snow removal company. I’ve heard from my son how the utility companies get ready for a storm like this. They do their best to have men stationed in towns in the area so they can get to an emergency call quick. He was parked in Demarest during the storm, all day and was able to get to a gas leak quickly. While I was looking and enjoying the peace of the storm, I realized there are a lot of people that can’t enjoy quiet time and peace the storm brings. They are busy keeping all of us safe and warm. I said a prayer yesterday for all those people and I hope everyone was safe and is still safe as they are trying to get everything back to normal (which will take days).
I am glad Pastor Debbie did the online video with a sermon for all of us this weekend. We were able to stay safe, and we were able to hear her message. I am enjoying learning more about the book of John. One of my favorite verses is probably one of the most popular verses. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. Pastor talked about this verse in her sermon, and I couldn’t help but remember that I memorized this verse when I was a child in Sunday School. “Back then” – I put those words in quotes because so many people use that phrase and I am of the age that I find I am using it more often… to continue, back then we had to learn a verse from the bible each week. I don’t know why, after all these years, that verse is the one that has stayed with me. I also don’t remember learning verse 17 that Pastor spoke to us on Sunday. It says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” The more I grow in my faith, the more I am in awe of God’s love for us. I was taught He always loves us and I just went along in my life saying prayers – I did both prayers asking for His wisdom and help, but also prayers of thanksgiving when I took a moment to realize that I should acknowledge his love for me. As I get older, the prayers of thanksgiving are said much more often.
When Pastor read the 2nd verse from the hymn titled “Love That Will Not Let Me Go” written by George Matheson. I knew I had to do some research on how this hymn was written. Here is what I found out:
“When he was 19 years old, everything looked golden for Glasgow-born George Matheson (1842-1906). A brilliant student, graduating with honors, he was engaged to be married to the love of his life. But then he rapidly began to lose his sight. The doctors said there was no cure. Turning for comfort to his sweetheart, he was stunned when she fled. She couldn’t be the wife of a blind man, she said. Twenty years later, on the eve of his sister’s wedding, the shock of rejection resurfaced. By now, Matheson, the “blind preacher,” was beginning to amass attention for his scholarly writing and inspiring sermons, but all the success in the world could not cure his broken heart. Alone in the parsonage that night, 40-year-old Matheson succumbed to “the most severe mental suffering.” That’s when he composed the words of the hymn “O LOVE THAT WILL NOT LET ME GO.” This hymn is a celebration of God’s extravagant love, with images of rainbows emerging from rain, joy arising from pain, blossoms springing from dry ground. Matheson’s hymn celebrates a love that is faithful, not fickle, a love that will endure through the worst of life’s crises, a love in which our weary souls can rest from all the stress.”
Let’s sing this hymn together and remember how much God loves us. “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go”
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=biHQVoAUTtU...
Preview YouTube video O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (Tune: St Margaret - 4vv) [with lyrics for congregations]Preview YouTube video O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (Tune: St Margaret - 4vv) [with lyrics for congregations]
