Here's a story from my late father; during the last 20 years of his life, he and my mother went faithfully to the local nursing homes to lead hymn sings, and he often described what he called his first hymn sing.

My father fought in the Second World War; he was one of these small-towners leaving Canada for the first time, leaving behind his wife and children, going to fight a war across the ocean with no idea of when he might return.

The troopships departing from Halifax observed the blackout to lower the risk of attack. On the second night of the journey, my father wandered up to the front of the ship to stand and think, and he says that he was feeling very alone and far from home.

So he began to sing:

Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou me on.
The night is dark, and I am far from home
Lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

As he sang, a dozen other voices joined him out of the darkness; when the finished the hymn, there was a pause, and someone said, "Do you know....?" And they sang several more hymns together. He never did find out who the other singers were that night.

Marion