The Wonder of it All

 George Beverly Shea

THE WONDER OF IT ALL

Last Sunday, we honored Ethel Engstrom on her 107^th birthday.  A Canadian, it was appropriate for the trio to sing George Beverly Shea’s The Wonder of It All in her honor.  Bev Shea had turned 104 in February, and also was a Canadian.  Shea wrote that song after someone asked him what it is like to lead a soul to Christ—O, the wonder of it all, he said.

The son of a pastor, Bev Shea at the time he was called home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, April 17, had faithfully served the Lord for 86 years of public ministry. Perhaps we would almost have to go back to the times of the Patriarchs to find a rival for that amount of godly service!  Yet, it almost did not happen.  Shea, a gifted singer, was offered a lucrative radio contract singing in the secular realm.  The hymn “I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame” that he sang so often was a tribute to that decision to serve Christ with his life.

Despite that decision, God did give him worldwide fame and yet a humility that I have rarely observed in a person of his stature.  My wife knew Mr. Shea, and after a concert introduced me to him.  His giant hand encircled mine, and his friendliness and interest in our lives was astounding. At that concert, Bev (nearly 80 at the time) mentioned that his wife had recently died, and he sang despite a sore throat.  Little did I know that he would continue singing another 23 years. He reminded me of my own father, also a baritone, a fact I remembered when dad died in 1999.  Bev Shea’s rendition of “Friends are friends forever” filled Forest Lawn’s Church of the Recessional at the end of that funeral.

Best known for rendition of  “The Old Rugged Cross,” Shea also introduced to America How Great Thou Art.  Elvis took the changes that Shea made to that old Swedish song and gave How Great Thou Art a vast exposure, a fact which brought great delight to Mr. Shea.  He appeared for more than 60 years as the soloist for the Billy Graham Crusades, always happily standing in the shadows of that famous evangelist.  Loyalty to his associates, fidelity to the faith, a friendliness that was quintessential, and a humility before Almighty God make Bev Shea a hero of mine.  I only wish you all could have known him.