Scripture Verse

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Matthew 22:32

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: W. E. Cat­lin, in the Song-Land Mes­sen­ger No. 2, ed­it­ed by An­tho­ny J. Sho­wal­ter (Dal­las, Tex­as & Dal­ton, Geor­gia: Sho­wal­ter-Lin­coln Com­pa­ny & A. J. Sho­wal­ter Com­pa­ny, 1898), num­ber 267 (🔊 pdf nwc). Compare Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

If you know Cat­lin’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

When our loved ones we greet,
In the homes where we meet,
And a fore­taste of Hea­ven en­joy,
Then the good­byes of earth
Put an end to our mirth,
And our circle of loved ones de­stroy.

Refrain

But when earth’s good­byes are all spok­en,
And we’re ga­thered around the white throne,
Our cir­cle will then be un­brok­en,
For there no good­byes are known.

Like the last rays of light,
All our joy takes its flight,
When with good­byes our loved ones re­move;
But how cheer­ing that day
In the near far away,
When the ran­somed will all meet above.

Refrain

To the friend­less on earth
Give some joy in their dearth,
Bid them share in the plea­sures of home,
Till they’ve trea­sures on high,
Where we’ll meet by and by,
In that last­ing re­un­ion to come.

Refrain