I WOULD BE TRUE

This hymn, I WOULD BE TRUE, was written by a young man in his early twenties.  His text was, and continues to be, a favourite of young people.  As our youth look for daily meaning and purpose, this text provides words of humble commitment to God as a guide to live throughout all of their days. 

The young man who penned the words was Howard A. Walter.  Howard had travelled to Japan in 1906 to spend a year teaching English.  He had a strong desire to write a statement of his philosophy of life, and to share it with his mother back home.  He titled the first three stanzas of his poem, ‘My Creed’.  Howard added the 4^th stanza several years later. 

You can imagine how greatly impressed and pleased Mrs. Henry Walter was after having received her son’s poem.  His convictions so inspired her that she sent a copy of the poem to Harper’s Magazine, where it was published in May of 1907. 

During the summer of 1909, Howard showed his text to Joseph Yates Peek, an itinerant, Methodist lay preacher.  Although he did not have any technical expertise in music, he immediately began whistling a tune for the words.  He later contacted Grant Tullar, an accomplished organist and well-known songwriter who developed the music.

Howard Walter was born on August 19, 1883 in Connecticut.  He graduated with honours from Princeton University in 1905.  Returning to the United States from teaching in Japan, he prepared for ministry at Hartford Seminary and was ordained by the Congregational Church.  He served in pastoral ministry for 3 years before joining the executive staff of YMCA and left for Lahore, India to teach and reach Mohammedan students there. 

In 1918, during a severe influenza epidemic, the dynamic life of this young man came to an abrupt end.  Howard Walter’s life has often been cited as an outstanding example of the creedal statement he had earlier penned.