Brother, hast thou wandered far

Brother, hast thou wandered far. James Freeman Clarke* (1810-1888).  This hymn appeared in Service Book: for the use of the Church of the Disciples (1844), and then in The Disciples’ Hymn Book (Boston, 1844). This hymn was credited as ‘Anonymous’. It is not clear why the authorship should have been so designated, when a much more polemical hymn such as ‘For all thy gifts we bless thee, Lord’* was clearly attributed to Clarke. The present hymn remained his best known hymn for many years. It was entitled ‘To the Prodigal Son’:  Brother, hast thou wandered far From thy father’s happy home? With thyself and God at war? Turn thee, brother, homeward come!  Hast thou wasted all the powers...