Saunders Jordan

1895

My dear father went to be with the Lord in 1958.  He was 84 years old and the son of a Civil War veteran.  He went to medical school, graduating in 1899.  He served in World War I, endured the depression and World War II, and lived to see man’s first rocket launches into space.

In 1887 another Civil War veteran, a European immigrant, wrote a beautiful gospel song.  My father knew it and loved it as a young man, and it was sung at his funeral.  It touched me deeply. 

I loved my father very much, and I was devastated by his death.  Nevertheless, I took comfort in the thought of those Golden Bells. 

I still do.

There’s a land beyond the river
That we called the sweet forever
And we only reach that shore by faith’s degree
One by one we’ll gain the purpose
There to dwell with kings immortal
When they ring those golden bells for you and me

Don’t you hear the bells ringing
Can’t you hear the angels singing
Tis the glory hallelujah jubilee
In that chorus sweet forever
Just beyond the shining river
When they ring those golden bells for you and me

We shall know no sin or sorrow
In that heaven of tomorrow
When our backs shall sail beyond the silvery sea
We shall only know the blessing
Of our fathers sweet caressing
When they ring those golden bells for you and me

Oh don’t you hear the joy bells ringing
Can’t you hear the angels singing
Ti’s the glory hallelujah jubilee
Oh in that far of sweet forever
Just beyond the shining river
When they ring those golden bells for you and me

When our days shall know their number
When in death we sleep in slumber
When the king commands the spirit to be free
Never more will anguish learn
We shall reach that lovely hill
When they ring those golden bells for you and me

Oh I hear the ringing
Oh I hear the singing
Ti’s the glory hallelujah jubilee
In that hour of sweet forever
Just beyond the shining river
When the ring those golden bells for you and me
Oh when they ring those golden bells for you and me

AMEN.