Harry Lauder was the pride of his native Scotland and of Great Britain as well. Working in the coal mines, Harry sang to help relieve the arduous nature of the work for his fellow workers who encouraged him to sing in the local halls.
Touring the halls around the country soon he was able to quit the coal mines and turn to singing professionally. He performed in Highland regalia and sang songs with Scottish themes. One of my fondest memories growing up as a boy was hearing Harry Lauder sing “Romin’ in the Glomin,” on our old Victrola.
Harry Lauder suffered personal tragedy during World War I when his only son, John, a captain in the 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, was killed in action at Poiziers. In the wake of John’s death he wrote the song “Keep Right on to the End of the Road.”
Late one afternoon at dusk, out walking with his little grandson, he was explaining the gold stars hanging in the windows. “They are the homes,” he said, “of parents who have lost sons in the Great War.”
As the two walked along, suddenly the grandson pointed up toward the evening star shining in the western sky. “Look, grandfather!” he exclaimed, “Did God lose a son, too?”
Assurance and hope swept over the heart of Harry Lauder. As he quickly wiped the tears from his eyes, he gathered the youngster up into his arms. “Yes, you are right. God lost a Son, too!”
Suddenly Harry Lauder was recalling a scripture verse he had memorized as a boy: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” And he knew as never before that the promise of the Easter dawn was real—“We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, a home eternal in the heavens.”
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I hope you will go to church, if possible with your family. If you don’t go any other Sunday in the year, you ought to go on Easter. The Living Christ will meet you there with the assurance, “Because I live, you will live also.”
Clyde Nichols is a retired minister, having served First Christian Church in Temple for 27 years as senior minister. He is the author of three books of devotionals and writes a religious column for several Texas newspapers, including The Reporter.
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