Though lowly here our lot may be

Though lowly here our lot may be. William Gaskell* (1805-1884). Written before 1860, when it was printed in the Second Edition of Ellen Coulthard’s Psalms, Hymns, and Anthems. It is the one hymn by Gaskell that has become widely known in Britain outside Unitarianism. Although it mentions ‘high work’ in line 2 and again in stanza 4, it is concerned more with the ‘work’ of the Christian life than about work itself (cf. ‘Stay, Master, stay upon this heavenly hill* by Samuel Greg*). It is a simple plea to ‘do our best’, as in stanza 4: Though lowly here our lot may be,  High work have we to do -In faith and trust to follow Him  Whose lot was lowly too. Our days of darkness we may bear,...