In the Garden (In memory of my beloved Mother on Mother's Day)

Charles Austin Miles (January 7, 1868 - March 10, 1946) at­tend­ed the Phil­a­del­phia Col­lege of Phar­ma­cy and the Un­i­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­van­ia.

In 1892, he aban­doned his phar­ma­cy ca­reer and wrote his first Gos­pel song, List ’Tis Je­sus’ Voice, which was pub­lished by the Hall-Mack Com­pa­ny.

Miles was an ed­it­or and man­ag­er at Hall-Mack for 37 years. In his own words:

"It is as a writ­er of gos­pel songs I am proud to be known, for in that way I may be of the most use to my Mas­ter, whom I serve will­ing­ly al­though not as ef­fi­cient­ly as is my de­sire."

This hymn is certainly not "my style," but my mother loved it, and I remember her singing me to sleep with it when I was very young.

Whatever musical or artistic gifts I have certainly came from my mother, Dorothy's side of the family.

She was a poor girl from Oklahoma, with a real talent as an artist, but her father wouldn't allow her to pursue art as a career, and told her to "get a job that will give her a paycheck..."

I never met my grandfather, but Mom said he was a very talented country fiddler, and that the churches always sold more tickets for their dances and socials when it was announced he was going to play!

Over the years, my mother became pretty knowledgeable about the organ repertoire, and even the Anglican choral repertoire, as she attended many of the choral evensongs that my men and boys choir sang.

Still, she always had a soft spot for this hymn and other "similar items," so, this in loving memory of her.

She passed away suddenly on December 22, 2002, and it's hard to imagine that it's been that long. So many memories of her with us daily, and Gale and I feel her presence in this house, which she loved so much.

So, this is for YOU, Mom.

The score and a photo of Charles Austin Miles, who wrote the words and music, are attached below.