Maltbie Babcock Grave

From Wikipedia:

Upon receiving his degree in theology in 1882, Babcock became pastor of a church at Lockport, New York. He was described as having “an unusually brilliant intellect and stirring oratorical powers that commanded admiration, [that] won for him a foremost place among the favorites of his denomination”.^[5]

From 1887 to 1900, Babcock was senior minister of the prestigious Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland.^[6] While pastoring Brown Memorial, he was acclaimed for his oratory and use of colorful metaphors in his sermons.^[7] He also led a fund-raising effort to assist Jewish refugees from Russia who were victims of an anti-Jewish pogrom in the 1880s.^[7] Babcock was honored by a Doctor of Divinity degree from Syracuse University in 1896.

When Babcock lived in Lockport, he took frequent walks along the Niagara Escarpment to enjoy the overlook’s panoramic vista of upstate New York scenery and Lake Ontario, telling his wife he was “going out to see the Father’s world”. She published a poem by Babcock shortly after his death, entitled This is My Father’s World.^[1]

1 This is my Father’s world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas–
His hand the wonders wrought.

2 This is my Father’s world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world:
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.

3 This is my Father’s world:
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let earth be glad!

Featured Image Credit: Alman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons