Skip to footer

Beacon of hope, light of joy

Sometimes the world may seem a dark place. But as this hymn poetically conveys, even when the “storms of life assail,” the “undaunted” light of God, good, is here to reveal the path to help, hope, and progress.

Christian Science Perspective audio edition
Loading the player...

This poem from the 1932 “Christian Science Hymnal” uses the word “man” to signify all of us, male and female.

Lift up thy light, O man, arise and shine,
Steadfast while loud the storms of life assail; Immortal ray of that great Light divine,
’Gainst whose all-power no tempest shall prevail.

Hold high thy lamp above earth’s restless tides,
Beacon of hope to those who watch afar.
Falsehood and fear shall pass, but Truth abides;
Thine be the splendor of her deathless star.

Should the world’s sin and sorrow round thee rave,
Pierce thou the dark with Truth’s undaunted ray,
Send out its light of joy to help and save,
That more and more shines to the perfect day.
– Celia Thaxter, No. 172, adapt. © CSBD

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Beacon of hope, light of joy
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2021/0816/Beacon-of-hope-light-of-joy
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe