Stir me, O stir me, Lord, I care not how

Stir me, O stir me, Lord, I care not how. Bessie Porter Head* (1849/1850-1936). This hymn of five 6-line stanzas appeared in Lady Victoria Carbery*’s Church Hymnal for the Christian Year (1917, 1920), with the attribution to ‘Mrs Albert A. Head’ and the date 1913. It was prefaced by ‘“Stir into flame.” – 2 TIM. i. 6 (R.V. , marg.).’ It is a hymn that strangely, and rather uncomfortably, combines a missionary zeal with a personal series of reflections. Stanza 1 lines 4-6 are: Stir, till the blood-red Banner be unfurled O’er lands that still in heathen darkness lie, O’er deserts where no Cross is lifted high. This is followed by the second half of stanza 2, lines 4-6: Till Thy...