From the Blues to "Precious Lord

Before Thomas Dorsey became known as the father of gospel music, he played under a different name. As "Georgia Tom," he performed barrelhouse blues in the smoke-filled clubs of 1920s Chicago. He was good at it, too. But something kept pulling him toward the church, and by the early 1930s, he had committed himself to writing sacred music — though few congregations wanted to hear it.

Then came August 1932. While Dorsey was away leading music at a revival in St. Louis, he received a telegram. His wife Nettie had died during childbirth. He rushed home, only to learn that his infant son had also died just hours later.

Dorsey later described a grief so total that he wanted to abandon both music and God. For days, he sat in silence. Then, one evening, he found himself at a piano. What came out of that devastation was a simple, desperate prayer set to melody: "Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand."

That hymn has since been sung in hospital rooms, at gravesides, and in the darkest valleys believers walk through. It became the favorite hymn of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Here is what the Almighty does with surrendered sorrow. He does not waste a single tear. The very worst chapter of Dorsey's life became the song that has comforted millions. That is redemption — not the removal of pain, but the transformation of it into something that heals the world.