God Be WIth You Till We Meet Again

Life is full of hellos and good-byes, meetings and partings, beginnings and endings. The good-byes, partings, and endings can hard to bear, if we embraced and enjoyed what was and long to do so again, or aren't sure what will come next. You may feel that way about 2011, for example, if it was a good and happy year for you. On a more personal level, you may have lost the company of someone whom you hold dear--perhaps for the rest of your life on this earth, or hopefully, just for a time here. This is where I find myself now, bidding farewell to my youngest son as he moves far away from home to begin his first full-time employment, in a new and very different place. I miss him very much already, and worry about his welfare and peace of mind. There is little more I can do for him now but pray that Lord keep him from harm and discouragement.

While so reflecting I remembered the moving hymn God Be With You Till We Meet Again. It is one of my very favorites. The text was written in 1880 by the Rev. Jeremiah Eames Rankin (1828-1904) (left), an abolitionist, champion of the temperance movement, minister of Washington, D.C.'s First Congregational Church, and correspondent with Frederick Douglass. The music was composed specifically for the text at Rev. Rankin's request, also in 1880, by William G. Tomer, then music director at Washington's Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. Rankin attributed the hymn's popularity in large part to the music to which it was set, calling it "a wedding of words and music."

Rev, Rankin explained that God Be With You Till We Meet Again "was written as a Christian good-bye; it was called forth by no person or occasion, but was deliberately composed as a Christian hymn on the basis of the etymology of 'good-bye,' which means 'God be with you.'" But the message is much more than that. It is a prayer for the safety, guidance, sustenance, happiness, spiritual comfort, and life of the person to whom the wish is addressed.

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.

God be with you till we meet again;
Neath His wings protecting hide you;
Daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
With the oil of joy anoint you;
Sacred ministries appoint you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
When life’s perils thick confound you;
Put His arms unfailing round you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
Of His promises remind you;
For life’s upper garner bind you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
Sicknesses and sorrows taking,
Never leaving or forsaking;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
Keep love’s banner floating o’er you,
Strike death’s threatening wave before you;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

God be with you till we meet again;
Ended when for you earth’s story,
Israel’s chariot sweep to glory;
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain

Today, only the first, second, fourth, and seventh stanzas of the original are widely sung.

The rendition in the video below is by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; it is sung in a very quiet and reverent manner, and at an almost-too-stately pace.



The next rendition is by the contemporary Christian group Selah. This is a delightful arrangement and is sung more at the pace at which the hymn is typically sung.



God be with you, son.

"I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." ~ Matthew 28:20