In the Twilight
Poem★★★★Abide with me-fast falls the eventide! The darkness deepens-Lord, with me abide; When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, 0 abide with me!
On May 8, 1984, Benjamin M. Weir, veteran Presbyterian missionary to Lebanon, was kidnapped at gunpoint by Shiite Muslims in Beirut. During his sixteenmonth imprisonment, he was constantly threatened with death. On his first night in captivity, one of his captors came to him and told him to face the wall, which he did.
“Now take your blindfold off, and put this on.” The man handed Weir a pair of ski goggles with the eye holes covered in thick plastic adhesive tape. He could see no light. In Weir’s mind, the sun had set.
He later wrote: In the twilight there came to mind the hymn, ‘abide with me-fast falls the eventide.” I felt vulnerable, helpless, lonely. I felt tears in my eyes. Then I remembered the promise of Jesus, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.”
“Lord, I remember your promise, and I think it applies to me, too. I’ve done nothing to deserve it but receive it as a free gift.
I need you. I need your assurance and guidance to be faithful
The point
Presbyterian missionary Benjamin Weir, blindfolded by his Shiite captors, recalls the hymn 'Abide with Me' and Jesus's promise that abiding in Him enables prayer, sustaining his faith through captivity.