The Swedish Nightingale

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 7
 
This was the professional name of the celebrated singer, "Jenny Lind." She lived in the past century, and was considered the greatest operatic singer in the world at that time. Money poured into her purse; yet at the very height of her popularity, she retired to a country estate before leaving England.
She loved to wander over the hills and dales near her home, and evidently had no regret for leaving the stage, with all its monetary recompense. Do you ask "why?" The answer comes from an interview with an English writer.
This gentleman found Jenny Lind while she was visiting at the seaside. She was sitting on a sandy beach with an open Bible on her knees, and looking out into the glory of a summer sunset. For a while the pair talked on everyday matters, until finally the real purpose of the visit came out. The visitor asked: "Oh! Madame Goldschmidt (her real name) how did you ever come to leave the stage at the very height of your success?"
A short pause, and then she answered: "When, every day my work, my success made me think LESS of this (laying her hand upon the Bible), and nothing at all of that (pointing to the glorious sunset-witness to God's creatorial power) WHAT ELSE COULD I DO?"
Needless to say, her question was unanswerable. That Book of books had brought to the "Swedish Nightingale" the knowledge of God's love and grace. It had delivered her completely from the world and from its empty applause.
Reader, does that Book mean anything to you? Has it brought to you the knowledge of a Savior's love? In Psalm 119, known to many as "the Psalm of the Word," the Psalmist says: "Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path." Can you say this?