I Long to Be There

Words & Music: S. J. Smucker, in the Church and Sunday School Hymnal (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Mennonite Publishing House, 1902), number 59 (🔊 ).

If you know Smucker’s full name, or where to get a good photo of him (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels), would you send us an e-mail?

I’ve read of a world of beauty
Where there is no gloomy night,
While love is the mainspring of duty,
And God is the fountain of light.

Refrain

I long, I long, I long to be there;
I long, I long, I long to be there.

I’ve read of its flowing river,
That bursts from beneath the throne,
And beautiful trees that ever
Are found on its banks alone.

Refrain

I long for that world of light,
To breathe in its balmy air,
To walk with the Lamb in white,
And sing with the angels there.

Refrain

I LONG TO BE THERE