Jesus Is All The World To Me (Quick Thoughts on a Hymn)
Will Lamartine Thompson (1847-1909) wrote the words and music of this hymn in 1904. The tune he named “Elizabeth,” after his wife. Otherwise, we know little of the origin of the hymn.
Thompson was a trained musician, who studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and also over in Leipzig Germany. He founded the Will L. Thompson & Company publishing firm, creating and editing many musical publications. “Softly and Tenderly” is another of his hymns. He visited Dwight Moody, when the great evangelist lay dying, and Moody said, “Will, I would rather have written ‘Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling’ than anything I have been able to do in my whole life.” Thompson wrote both sacred and secular music, but his greatest joy was composing and singing songs about his Lord.