The church I served used to sing from an old songbook the hymn, “Sometimes a Light Surprises.” While the hymn has fallen out of favor in our day, its words have never left me. Consider the way the song begins:
Sometimes a light surprises, a Christian while he sings.
It is the Lord who rises with healing in his wings.
When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again,
A season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain.
One reason I like the hymn is I know something about the composer’s struggles. William Cowper (pronounced Cooper) was an eighteenth century (1731-1800) poet and hymnwriter who struggled with lifelong depression. When he wrote about God’s “clear shining to cheer after rain,” he learned this lesson through long periods of despair and sadness. He wanted to marry his cousin Theodora, but when her father wouldn’t allow it, Cowper fell into a deep depression. He later experienced a mental breakdown before the prospect of a public examination for employment and was institutionalized for melancholy, as it was called back in the day. The asylum was run by Dr. Cotton, one of the first people in England to treat mental problems as an illness. Prayer was part of Dr. Cotton’s treatment plan. After William’s release, he moved to a small town where he met John Newton, a former slave captain turned preacher. John recognized William’s literary genius as well as his depressive tendencies, so he invited him to collaborate on a hymnbook for singing in his church. They co-authored a collection of three hundred forty-eight hymns, including John’s classic “Amazing Grace” hymn. Among the sixty-eight hymns William contributed was Olney Hymn #26: “On Opening a Place for Social Prayer.” Yes, it’s dense, but read it slowly to enter into prayer: