Since yesterday was Pioneer Day, I thought I’d share my thoughts on one of my favorite Pioneer Hymns. Most of you are probably familiar with Come, Come Ye Saints. It was one of my sister’s favorite songs, and she requested that it be played at her funeral. While I always liked the song, I can rarely sing it without getting a bit emotional as I think of my sister.
She was the oldest in my family. My father was a convert, and always referred to her as “the pioneer” of the family. Perhaps that is why she liked the song so much. The last verse is the one that always causes me to think about my sister.
And should we die before our journey’s through,
Happy day! All is well!
We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;
With the just we shall dwell!
But if our lives are spared again to see the Saints their rest obtain,
Oh, how we’ll make this chorus swell-
All is well! All is well!
My sister died from a brain tumor. She struggled through radiation and chemotherapy for nearly 2 years before succumbing. I often feel like she died before her journey was through, but I am glad she is free from toil and sorrow too. I often wish her life was spared again, but it wasn’t.
She left behind 4 small children under the age of 10. Three of them are in college now, and the other is a senior in high school. They have coped very well, and are excellent people.
My brother died 4 years ago in a tragic auto accident. He was about the same age as my sister when she died (36). He also left behind 4 small children under the age of 7. At the funeral, the closing song was “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”
I can remember singing this song at the end of meetings, and thinking it was a nice song to end the meeting. I planned on meeting everyone the next week at church again. But when it was played at the funeral, it took on a whole new meaning. I usually can’t sing the song anymore, but I love to listen to it.
God be with you till we meet again;
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.Refrain
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.
I can’t wait to see my brother again. So, what are some songs that touch your heart?
Mormon Heretic 
These words to a contemporary Christian song were of great meaning to me at a time when treatments of my sleep apnea that had worked for a decade became ineffective. After several months, I grew fearful of sunset itself because I could no longer sleep for more than a couple of hours each night, and that time was spent constantly waking up choking. The words were:
“I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I am with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
I will praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
You are the great I AM
Every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.”
One of my favorites is Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Not for any personal story that it holds for me, but just because it is so beautiful when sung by the Mo Tab, and I love the words and how the hymn is phrased. It is so unique. I love the message of grace and mercy, man’s weakness and yearning to return to God in spite of his tendency to stray. The idea of having our hearts bound and sealed to the Lord is just beautiful.
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Tara:
Both the words you quoted and the “God Be With You” that MH cited both brought back many gentle memories. I grew up in a congregation in Pontiac Michigan whose church had been built by bricking over the outside of a barn on a farm owned by relatives of Hyrum Smith back in the 1830’s. I’m pretty sure from one of John Hamer’s maps that the farm was the location from which one of the companies of Zion’s Camp left for Missouri.
In those days we were large enough to have Sunday evening services as well as prayer and testimony meetings on Wednesday night, in addition to Sunday morning wordhip and Sunday school. It was something of a regular congregational tradition, I think, to close prayer meeting with “God Be With You” and to use “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” as the opening hymn. We did not use musical instruments in prayer and testimony meeting, and the simple tune and words let everyone be comfortable singing a capella.
I guess you can tell, however, that my favorite hymn was always
“The Spirit of God Like A Fire is Burning”.
FireTag, those words from that Christian song were very touching. Do you know the name?
“The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning” is a very rousing song. In the Missionary Training Center, I loved to sing “Called to Serve.” It’s a wonderful song. “O My Father” is excellent too.
It’s called “I Will Lift My Eyes”, and it’s on the Bebo Newman album “Between the Dreaming and The Coming True.”
Scratch that last comment. I grabbed the wrong album. It’s “Praise You in This Storm” in the Casting Crowns album “Lifesong”. Bebo Newman’s album has some pretty touching worship pieces, too, though.
Well, nothing related to the trek, but my favorite is:
A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief