229 O Brother Man, Fold to Thy Heart Thy Brother
John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807-92
A hymn of brotherly love and service, taken from a poem of 15 stanzas, entitled, “Worship,” to which was affixed the scriptural reference, James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” A concern for the well being of his fellow man was to Whittier a vital part of the Christian faith, as witness his championship of the cause of the slaves.
For comments on John Greenleaf Whittier see Hymn 173.
MUSIC. COMFORT. The tune appears anonymously in the “Supplement” to Hymns of the Spirit, 1937.