Just As I Am

With both of my parents now deceased, my closeness to them has taken on a different, but equally meaningful perspective.  One recent Sunday, I was feeling a particular closeness to my dad, wishing I could have just one more conversation with him.  Then, as if sending me a message that he was as close to me as I felt to him, our spectacular church pianist played the old hymn "Just As I Am" while we took the offering.   "Just As I Am" was my dad's favorite hymn.  I first became familiar with it during Billy Graham's television programs when I was growing up.  Since then, whenever I hear "Just As I Am," I can hear my dad humming along (Dad didn't think of himself as a singer, but he was a great, great hummer).  I'm not sure if Dad favored the lyrics or the music, but I particularly like the third verse:  "Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come."