I went to the Over The Rhine Christmas show last month. It was incredible, as always. At the end they brought the two opening acts back out and sang this hymn. It was a blast from my past. For me it was the highlight of the evening. I have not been able to get this song out of my head today. And since one of my resolutions is to sing more, I've even found myself singing it out loud a couple of times. The language is outdated (Fuller - no comments about the use of the word "molested" , please :-) and I'm not a big fan of hymns, but there's so much hope and faith conveyed in this one. It reminds me that I don't focus enough on the future hope a relationship with Jesus promises. Maybe it will speak to you like it speaks to me:
Tempted and tried, we're oft made to wonder
Why it should be thus all the day long,
While there are others living among us,
Never molested, though in the wrong.
Farther along we'll know all about it,
Farther along we'll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We'll understand it all by and by.
When death has come and taken our loved ones,
It leaves our home so lonely and drear,
Then do we wonder why others prosper
Living so wicked year after year.
Farther along we'll know all about it,
Farther along we'll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We'll understand it all by and by.
Faithful til death, said our loving Master
A few more days to labor and wait,
Toils of the road will then seem as nothing
As we sweet through the beautiful gate.
Farther along we'll know all about it,
Farther along we'll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We'll understand it all by and by.
When we see Jesus, coming in glory,
When He comes from His home in the sky,
Then we shall meet Him in that bright mansion,
We'll understand it all by and by.
Farther along we'll know all about it,
Farther along we'll understand why;
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine,
We'll understand it all by and by.
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4 comments:
'cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine...'
that was one of my fave parts of the show, too. what great poetry... i actually do like the hymns a lot, though i don't often feel led to lead them. there's a lot of richness and depth there. (there was a church in franklin that had a college group that would set the lyrics of the hymns to new music. cool stuff.) this one is great. i think one of the big lies that the enemy has spread through at least the last few generations is that the hope of heaven is a sort of cop-out, an escape from dealing with reality, or as marx would say, 'the opiate of the masses.' but i don't think we should let the enemy steal an authentic and much needed source of hope. i'm so glad we'll understand it better by and by.
let me know what i can do to support your new year's resolution. :)
(oh, and i second your admonition regarding creepy comments... :)
I think my problem with hymns has always been the fact that they are usually either:
a. made to sound like something out of Transylvania because they are typically played on a beautiful but eery pipe organ
b. sung by someone who hopefully has other gifts to fall back on
c. a and b
If I can get past that - not to mention antiquated language that leads us to have to pre-emptively ward off inappropriate comments of friends and loved ones :) - I usually find a beauty and truth in the words that I am glad I stuck around for.
As for supporting your resolution to sing more, I have a GREAT idea. What about an all musical message - you could sing the whole thing! How's that for raising the bar at our gatherings?
That song said molest.
Hehehehehehe...
Dude, I warned you! Thanks for putting your mug on my blog.
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