Harry Lauder and Humility

Zephaniah 2:3 (NIV)

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,

    you who do what he commands.

Seek righteousness, seek humility;

    perhaps you will be sheltered

    on the day of the Lord’s anger.

Harry Lauder was born in 1870 in Portobello, Scotland. He orphaned at the age of 12 and had to take up work, first in a local flax mill, and later in a coalmine, before winning a talent contest that gained him entry to the music hall circuit. He formed his own touring company and eventually became the highest paid entertainer of his time. He wore a trademark kilt on stage, and always carried a crooked stick.

Lauder made his first visit to the USA in 1907, and was in Australia when World War I broke out. Whilst entertaining in London in 1917, he learned that his son had been killed in the fighting. Lauder continued to entertain the troops and launched a charitable "Million Pound Fund" to aid the war wounded. It was for this work that he was knighted in 1919. He continued entertaining until his seventies.

Once while in a concert in Chicago, Lauder sang to an overflowing audience. At the conclusion, the audience stood en masse, and applauded uproariously. After the applause subsided, the audience said in unison, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Showing splendid humility, Lauder replied, “Don’t thank me! Thank the good God who put the songs in my heart!”

We need to humbly acknowledge that it is God who works in our lives.

Dear Lord, we give this day to the You both the successes and the failures. Help us give You all the thanks and praise. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.