Tuesday, July 15, 2014

No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus -- Charles Frederick Weigle



Knowing the circumstances of this composer’s moment of inspiration gives this song a poignant hue, at least you might think so. Just listen to Charles Frederick Weigle tell the story (see YouTube link below). It was in the wake of the breakup of perhaps Weigle’s most significant earthly relationship that he wrote “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus” in 1932, so you might think he was despondent, and calling out to Him from a sense of desperation. At least, that’s what I was thinking. But, you might re-think that assumption, after you hear what he has to say.  You might even say he was still married, but not quite like the two people shown in the wedding picture here.


Weigle’s testimony is pretty vivid. He declares that he gave up everything to spread the word as an evangelist. He experienced the thrill of seeing people responding to the gospel early on in his ministry apparently, and it got deep inside him until he knew without a doubt that this was something he just couldn’t ignore for any reason. Despite what must have been many years of struggle emotionally with his spouse, and her eventual departure from their marriage when the composer was 61, Weigle said that three years later he was still excited and thankful to be doing God’s will and experiencing all the ways He was blessed by the Lord. And, so with a burst of energy he wrote this song in just a few moments, as he overflowed with gratitude toward his Divine companion. And, then he sings his own composition, letting the hearer listen to his passion for this friend Jesus who was so crucial to his life. The only thing better, perhaps, would be to see him tell this story and watch his face as he sang how much he felt Jesus cared for him. Perhaps it was in fact his wife’s departure that brought home to Weigle just how important Jesus was to him. He no doubt loved people here on earth, including his wife, but not more than Jesus. One can imagine that in the wake of his earthly loss, this attitude endured, perhaps even more strongly in the next 34 years that Weigle lived. Perhaps he’d discovered that his divine marriage mattered to him more.

Was Weigle bitter or depressed after the episode that severed his earthly marriage? Other sources indicate he did in fact suffer depression and considered suicide. What got him through this? Perhaps that’s the answer we hear on the You Tube site – that strength from the Jesus-relationship carried him along. He sounds like a guy who, though tossed by an earthly storm in a rocky sea, was someone who felt stronger now, knowing that Jesus stayed with him. Yes, it must have been awfully tough, to be 61 and lose one’s life-partner – at least, that’s how he probably thought of her, and she him, too. But, Weigle doesn’t sound regretful. He wants his hearers to focus on what he—and they—still have, even if life’s events have turned sour. Jesus. That’s the one word answer Charles Weigle had for his life in 1932.   


Information on the song was obtained from the books  Amazing Grace – 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990, Kregel Publications; The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Listen to the story told by the composer on this YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha3APG-NVUI

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