🎶 Hymn History – “Farther Along” 🎶
History:
A traveling preacher was having trouble juggling his family obligations and his calling in 1911 while traveling by train to the Indian Territories. While his wife stayed behind in Cleburne, Texas, getting ready to give birth to their first child, God had called Rev. W. A. Fletcher to preach the gospel in Indian territories. Feeling upset over missing such a momentous day in their life, Rev. Fletcher started jotting down his thoughts to create a poem.
On the train, Jesse Randall Baxter Jr., co-owner of Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Company, sat next to Rev. Fletcher and was struck by his writing. Reverend Fletcher accepted Baxter’s offer to pay him $2.00 for the poem.
In 1862, Buel Stevens, a soldier, was arrested for mutiny with German Methodists in Missouri. He was sent to prison in Illinois. Despite the loss of his uncle, cousin, and children, Buel Stevens remained a faithful gospel minister, preaching and teaching singing in several states.
With the help of editor and hymn composer Barney Elliot Warren, pastor William Buel Stevens, and publisher J.R. Baxter Jr., the song started many years earlier by Rev. W. A. Fletcher was finished in the 1930s. The song ‘Farther Along’ was released in 1937.
Regardless of who is credited as the actual author of this hymn—Rev. W.A. Fletcher, William Buel Stevens, J.R. Baxter Jr., or perhaps Barney Warren—the lyrics demonstrate that these individuals were drawn to God rather than away from Him. They looked to Him and to heaven, where they would one day “know all about it!” Until then, they would continue to be obedient to Him in the place He had called them.
Refrain:
Farther along we’ll know more about it,
Farther along we’ll understand why;
Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,
We’ll understand it all by and by.
_____________________
Farther Along is a song that emphasizes the existence of purpose beyond our comprehension, acknowledging the human struggle with unanswered questions and unexplained pain, and reminding us that we are never alone even in darkness.
#hymnhistory #congregational #fartheralong
References:
- https://www.facebook.com/share/p/UEMA2n4TwUyU7MnY/?mibextid=Nif5oz
- www.dianaleaghmatthews.com/hymn-story-father-along
- https://drhamrick.blogspot.com/2013/12/farther-along.html?m=1
You can listen to the hymn here:
