Turn Your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full upon His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
What she lacked in earthly possessions was made up by her blazing living faith in Christ. She continued in Christian serve well into her 90s. She could not see with the eyes of her body, but she had 20/20 vision when it came to seeing with the eyes of her heart and soul. Hymnologist Bill Cottrill wrote this about Helen Lemmel:
“The frail old woman sits at a table in her tiny room in Seattle, Washington. Before her is a small plastic organ–one such as a child might have. But, as she fingers the keys and sings, her poor surroundings seem to fade from view, her face shines with the light of heaven, and tears trickle down her time-lined cheeks. Perhaps in her mind she is seated at a majestic pipe organ in some ornate cathedral. But the place doesn’t matter. She is intent on worshiping her Saviour.
The woman’s name is Helen. In her nineties at the time described, and with little of this world’s goods, her faith sustained her.”[2]
Adult acquired disability is a terrible shock. What was is no more. For Helen Lemmel it was blindness beginning in her 40s. For me it was progressive disability of multiple sclerosis beginning at the age of 30.
I am a witness to the truth of Helen’s beautiful hymn. In my wide-eyed terror of serious neurological disease and a creeping paralysis that took me from being healthy and able bodied to triplegic (paralysis in three limbs). Her hymn strikes a full chord. The things of earth did grow strangely dim—like catastrophic disability—when I kept my eyes on that wonderful face of Jesus.
When I was at a certain point of disability when legs no longer worked and I had serious paralysis in my right arm, my artist son drew a picture of Jesus portrayed by Robert Powell in the 1977 TV series Jesus of Nazareth. It was my favourite portrayal of Jesus until Passion of the Christ (2004).
I’m 72 now. Most of my adult life has been battling aggressive MS. Christ has been with me (and my wife) every step of that journey. I’ll keep your eyes upon Jesus. It won’t be long before I stand before His wonderful face.
“Now we see a poor reflection as in a mirror; Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” —1 Corinthians 13.12
[1] Inspired by Hebrews 12:1-2.
[2] Robert Cottril, Today in 1864 — Hellen Lemmel Born, (Wordwise: With Robert Cottrill, 14 November 2022 https://wordwisebiblestudies.com/today-in-1864-helen-lemmel-born/
