Because I Have Been Given Much
“I wrote the poem [originally titled ‘The Shared Loaf’] after a long and serious illness. I was convalescing (Convalescence is the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness or injury), and in a sudden, glad up-rush of gratitude for my release from pain, recalling the many mercies and blessings that had been mine those long hard days, and through all my past life, remembering the love that had been around and about me ever, I wrote the words of this hymn. Surely I have been given much; surely love has been showered upon me. God grant I may never forget to ‘divide my gifts with every brother that I see who has the need of help from me,’ and I trust I shall not hoard the love that has been so abundantly showered upon me.”
