Touch of the Master's Hand

Old video tapes made for gospel lessons by the LDS Church included the following film based on Myra Brooks Welch's poem, "The Touch of the Master's Hand." From the very first time I saw this film, I was greatly impressed and affected. 

I included this gem in our poetry studies. First we read the poem together and discussed it, then we watched the film. Still gets me.

The Touch of the Master's Hand

'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

      Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

      But held it up with a smile.

"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,

    "Who'll start the bidding for me?"

"A dollar, a dollar. Then two! Only two?

      Two dollars, and who'll make it three?"

"Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;

      Going for three…" But no,

From the room, far back, a grey-haired man

      Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then wiping the dust from the old violin,

      And tightening the loosened strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet,

      As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,

      With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said: "What am I bid for the old violin?"

      And he held it up with the bow.

"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?

      Two thousand! And who'll make it three?

Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,

    And going and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

    "We do not quite understand.

What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply:

    "The touch of the Master's hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,

      And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd

      Much like the old violin.

A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine,

    A game — and he travels on.

He is "going" once, and "going" twice,

    He's "going" and almost "gone."

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd

    Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought

    By the touch of the Master's hand.

Interestingly, it is said that Myra Welch wrote this poem in just 30 minutes after listening to a speaker address a group of students on the power of God to bring out the best in people. She said that she became filled with light. She sent her poem to a church bulletin to be published anonymously because she felt that it was a gift from God and it didn't need her name on it.

Myra Brooks Welch lived from 1878 to 1950 and is best known for this poem, "The Master's Hand," written in 1921. As a youth she loved to play the organ but later in life she suffered badly from arthritis and spent much of her life in a wheelchair. In order to write she held an inverted pencil in each of her gnarled hands so she could pick out the words on a typewriter. She said that the joy of her writing outweighed any pain of the effort.