This song has at least
two familiar titles—“No, Not One” and “There’s Not A Friend”. The words were by Johnson Oatman, Jr. and the
tune was made by George C. Hugg. It has
been an easy song to learn and sing for several years. I can recall singing it from the days of my
childhood to the point that I could probably lead it without the hymnbook if I
had too.
Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1856-1922), Lyricist
Johnson Oatman, Jr. was
born April 21, 1856 near Medford, NJ. His
father was a talented singer and a significant influence on his son. He received his education from Herbert’s
Academy in Princetown, NJ and the New Jersey Collegiate Institute in
Bordertown, NJ. He and his father
operated the Johnson Oatman & Son mercantile business, but after his
father’s death, Oatman worked in the insurance industry.
He was an ordained
minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Some sources suggest he wrote some 3,000 hymns, other sources suggest as
many as 5,000. All are agreed that a
hymnbook would be incomplete without some of his songs. Some songs he wrote which are familiar to us
include “Count Your Blessings”, “Sweeter Than All”, “The Last Mile of the Way”,
“I’ll Be A Friend to Jesus” and others.
He is credited with writing “No, Not One” in 1895.
He married Wilhelmina
Reid, and they had three children:
Rachel, Miriam and Charles (or Percy, his middle name). He died September 25, 1922 in Norman, OK and
is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Lumberton, NJ. On his tombstone are three titles of his
well-loved hymns: “No, Not One”, “Count
Your Blessings” and “Higher Ground”.
George Crawford Hugg (1848-1907), Composer
George Crawford Hugg was
born near Haddonfield, NJ on May 23, 1848.
His talent in music was apparent in that, at age 12, he was appointed
choirmaster in the Presbyterian Church of Berlin, NJ. He was very prolific with some 2,000 pieces
of music to his credit, plus he has published several songbooks and special
books of music as well. He also served as choir director at Tabernacle
Presbyterian Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Much of Hugg’s personal life has not been
well documented. Census Records are
reported to show that he was married, but not further information is available
about his family. Hugg died October 13,
1907 in Philadelphia, PA and was buried in Fernwood Cemetery, Lansdowne, PA.
No, Not One
Thomas Aquinas once stated,
“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized
than true friendship.” One of the greatest examples in the Bible of
friendship between two people is David and Jonathan. Friends can make us feel better; e.g.,
Jonathan to David. Friends can sometimes
make us feel worse; e.g., friends of Job.
True is the proverb, “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for
the way of the wicked leads them astray” (Proverbs 12:26, NKJV.)
Sometimes we tend to express
degrees of friendship: “my friend”, “my
good friend”, or “my best friend”. There
is no friend to you like Jesus. Our
friends may be separated from us for a variety of reasons or causes; however,
Jesus never leaves us.
One of the maxims of
friendship: “A man who has friends must himself be
friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24, NKJV.) We may talk about how much we do for our
friends, but we should periodically assess ourselves and our friendships. We should ask ourselves “Am I in the
friendships for our friend’s benefit or solely for my own?” Another self-assessment question we may ask
ourselves to avoid taking a friendship for granted: “What do I bring to the friendship?” It is a valid question to reflect on to avoid
our taking friends for granted and even losing the friendship. Interesting fact about friendship with Jesus,
He does not need anything from us, but He still wants to be our friend. We might say “Well, that is the way
friendship is supposed to be! It should
not be about what our friend can get from us!”
Question—how are you treating Jesus as your friend? Do you even think about Jesus as your friend?
Read some advice about
not keeping certain friends unless they can help you succeed. If they are of benefit to you, then get rid
of them is what some say. Imagine if
Jesus had such a selfish self-centered attitude toward us? The song points out that there “No friend like
Him is so high and holy.”
Thankfully, Jesus views friendship with us of extreme value, but what is
our attitude toward Him and friendship with Jesus?
There are those who think
that Jesus makes no demands on them, that they have complete moral autonomy to
do whatever they desire. They do not like restraints and rebel against
authority. They may claim a friendship
with Jesus but reject the notion that Jesus has commands for them; however,
Jesus said “You
are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14, NKJV.) Jesus laid His life down for His friends
(John 15:3). How can one be so
indifferent toward the friendship of Jesus when He has reached out His hands in
love and friendship? If we are so
indifferent toward Jesus today, then how will Jesus be toward us when are
todays are over?
SOURCES:
http://cyberhymnal.org/bio/o/a/oatman_j.htm
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=60636890&PIpi=55329944
http://www.hymnary.org/person/Oatman_Johnson
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/u/g/hugg_gc.htm
http://courier-tribune.com/living/features/no-not-one
John P. Wiegand, Editor, Praise for the Lord, Nashville, TN: Praise Press, 1997.
V. E. Howard, Editor, and
Broadus E. Smith, Associate Editor, Church
Gospel Songs & Hymns, Texarkana, TX: Central Printers & Publishers, 1983.
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