WORTH IT ALL

Memorial Day is Monday, and my husband and his sisters will go to a little country cemetery to "take care of" their relatives' graves there. I cannot do the same for my parents, but from time to time I stop at our city cemetery to reflect at this grave marker for my "spiritual grandma," an older lady from my church who loved on me like the daughter she never had. She lived almost the same time as the author of a hymn about heaven that continues to comfort many.

On Wednesday, May 12, 2021, a 41-year-old Swiss man died soon after standing on top of Mount Everest. He had just achieved his goal of reaching the summit of all seven of the world's highest mountains. But he didn't live to come home and celebrate. And he wasn't the first to succumb to the mountain's thin air and brutal weather. Every year, the death toll rises.

Was it worth it all? Esther Kerr Rusthoi had her answer to that question, but it had nothing to do with mountain climbing. Instead, she was looking in the distance to that final breath between earthly life and eternal life. She had reason to wonder. Born in 1909, she suffered poor health and died in 1962 at 53. But her life was filled with more than illness. She was known as an author, poet, composer, singer, and evangelist. She served as an associate pastor at the Angelus Temple on Los Angeles. With her husband Rev. Howard Rusthoi, a military chaplain, she was known as a “revival broadcaster.”

Probably her best-known legacy, however, was a hymn that revealed her yearning for heaven. Its begins talking about days that are too long, trials too hard to bear, and the temptation to complain, murmur and despair. Except—someday, Christ will appear to take us away to our eternal home. The song's chorus broke out in victory:

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!

Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ.

One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase.

So bravely run the race 'til we see Christ.

Two more verses affirm the joy when we cross that “great divide to Glory, safe at last.”

But Esther's story is not complete without telling about her three-years-older brother, Phil Kerr, a music evangelist credited with more than 3,000 songs and choruses. The twosome were born to parents who did missionary work in Arizona and Old Mexico, and at San Pedro (Calif.) rescue missions. Esther and Phillip were exposed at young ages to informal evangelism through music. Their parents would invite neighbors over for a program that included music, games and Scripture quizzes.

After Phillip grew up to be a talented pianist and conductor, and an ordained minister, he found his niche in revival services and crusades. In 1945, Phillip started “Monday Musicals,” a Christian music talent show to encourage young Gospel musicians, held at large venues in southern California. He also gathered Gospel songs into a hymnal that sold more than a million copies. One of his books, Music in Evangelism (1939), was widely used as a text in music departments of Bible schools.

In 1949 Phillip and another Gospel musician were asked to help with music at the Christ for Greater Los Angeles crusade. It was the first big crusade for a young evangelist named Billy Graham, who would go from there to a life of worldwide evangelism.

Phillip died in 1960, two years before his sister Esther. One of his friends described the Gospel songs Phillip wrote as “light and lilty”--with titles like “Melody Divine,” “I'm Glad I'm a Christian,” “This Is Why I Sing,” and “I'm In Love with the Lover of My Soul.” And as Phillip “summited” at the door to Heaven, he probably would have agreed with his sister's lyrics: “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.” 

Join a group singing this song at this website:

When We See Christ it will be worth it all! - Bing video