GLORY!

 A monthly story on a hymn of the faith.

Whenever Gospel musician Charles Gabriel was around Ed Card, he was boosted by the Card's joyful demeanor. It wasn't what you'd expect from a man who ran a rescue mission in St. Louis, Missouri. Yet Card was known for his ready smile and how he seemed to bubble over with the joy of the Lord. The man would explode with a “Glory!” during a sermon or prayer, and often closed his own prayers with a reference to heaven and the remark, “And that will be glory for me!” Card's joyful countenance caused others to nickname him “Old Glory Face.”

Inspired by Card's expressive faith, Gabriel combined verse and music for a hymn titled, “O That Will Be Glory,” first published in 1900. Surprisingly, one critic complained, “That hymn will never go. It has too many quarter notes.” In other words, it didn't have a catchy tune. But it definitely “caught on,” becoming one of the most popular hymns sung at large evangelism meetings from the U.S., to around the globe, including Australia and Great Britain. Before Card died, he'd learn that his Christian walk was widely recognized by Gabriel's Gospel song.

But Gabriel was far from a “one-hit” composer. More amazing, he began life in an Iowa prairie farm shanty in 1856. As a youth, he taught himself to play a small reed organ his parents bought. At age 16 he was leading singing schools. His mother discerned his unusual talent. When Gabriel told her that one day he'd write a world-famous song, she remarked, “My boy, I would rather have you write a song that will help somebody than see you President of the United States.”

Around age 30, he moved to San Francisco, Calif., to serve in a Methodist Episcopal Church. When the Sunday school superintendent asked him to come up with a missionary hymn for Easter, Gabriel composed “Send the Light.” A visiting mission representative took the hymn back East with him. Two years later, Gabriel was writing and publishing hymns full-time. Some of his well-known hymns included “Higher Ground,” “My Savior's Love,” and “More Like the Master.” He also composed the music for others' lyrics, including Civila Martin's “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and Ada Habershon's “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”

In all, he'd edit 35 Gospel songbooks, eight Sunday school songbooks, seven books for male choruses and six for women's voices, ten children's songbooks, 19 anthem collections, 23 choir cantatas, 41 Christmas cantatas, 10 children's cantatas, and many books on musical instructions. For two decades he was part of Homer Rodeheaver Publishing Co.

Gabriel would die in 1932, in Hollywood, leaving an estimated legacy of 7,000-8,000 songs. Among his songs, “I Stand Amazed in the Presence,” which includes the line, “How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior's love to me.”

The same singer takes all four parts in this rendition of “O that Will Be Glory”:

Bing Videos

Then, he takes all four parts of “Send the Light”:

Send the Light - YouTube

Seeing Jesus: Oh that will be glory!

How does one illustrate "glory"? One way:
through the glory of God's creation. Here,
looking up through a pink dogwood tree.

The word “glory” has been on my mind, along with a wonderful old hymn whose refrain replies to the prospect of seeing Jesus after death:
Oh, that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me,
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.

Composed in 1900 by Charles Gabriel, who wrote verse and/or tunes to some 7,000 hymns, it was part of the turn in 19^th century Gospel music from meditative to energetic, easily-sung hymns. The hymn grew out of Gabriel’s friendship with Ed Card, director of the Sunshine Rescue Mission in St. Louis, Mo. Card was known for his smile and nicknamed “Old Glory Face.” He was legend for exclaiming “Glory!” when he preached, and ended prayers with “And that will be glory for me!” The song he inspired Gabriel to write came to the attention of international evangelists, whose use popularized it around the world. Before Card died, he reportedly had the joy of singing Gabriel’s hymn and knowing his life had been its inspiration.

 

Gabriel was born in 1856 in an Iowa prairie shanty. Christians gathered in his family’s home, with his father usually serving as leader. Early on, Gabriel loved music. He taught himself to play the family’s little reed organ, and the lad told his mom he’d someday write a famous song. She replied, “My boy, I would rather have you write a song that will help somebody than see you President of the United States.”

Among his songs that “helped somebody” were “Send the Light,” “I Stand Amazed in the Presence,” “What a Savior,” “He is so Precious to Me,” and “More Like the Master,” He also wrote the tunes to others’ lyrics for “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” “Brighten the Corner Where You Are,” “Higher Ground,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and “Since Jesus Came into My Heart.”

Many of these are part of the “music fabric” of my spiritual life. But recently I’ve been drawn back to these hopeful words from Gabriel’s hymn:

When all my labors and trials are o’er
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore,
Will through the ages be glory for me.

What an amazing thing—to know a God who is high and exalted, but intimate and tender, who cared enough to visit this earth in Jesus Christ. The Bible says God sent an archangel named “Gabriel” to announce the birth of the Messiah. “Gabriel” means “devoted to God,” and how appropriate that a gifted man from a poor home, his last name “Gabriel,” should grow up to “announce” the good news of Jesus through song!