When the roll is called up yonder

(this is a short post and will have longer article tomorrow--I developed such a terrible headache this afternoon that has not let up at all.)

"J.M. Black wrote the words and music to this gospel hymn (circa 1893) in less than 15 minutes," writes Helen Salem Rizk in her 1964 compilation of stories behind "the greatest and most beloved Christian hymns ever composed."

"At a consecration meeting in his church when members were answering the roll call with verses from the Bible, a little 14-year-old girl, who had been previously taken in off the streets, failed to respond.

"The following are the author's own words: 'I spoke of what a sad thing it would be, when our names are called from the Lamb's Book of Life, if one of us should be absent.' According to Black, he wanted something appropriate to sing just at that time, but could find nothing in the hymnal.

"The thought came to him, 'Why don't you write it yourself?' When he went home that evening, just as he went in the door the words suddenly came to him. Seizing a pen, he wrote them down in a frenzied flourish.

"Going to the piano, he played the music just as it is found in the hymn books today, note for note! Black was so amazed at the speed and ease of his own creation that he dared not change a single word or note from the moment it was written."

According to Wikipedia, "The song's lyrics were first published in a collection titled Songs of the Soul and the song has since been translated into at least 14 languages and sung all over the world in a variety of Christian denominations.

"There are more than 500 versions available on such sites as Amazon, recorded by various artists such as Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Jim Nabors, and Willie Nelson, to the traditional tune. The lyrics have also been set to new music by contemporary gospel artists such as Doris Johnson.

"In 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill created a stir in the British press when he quoted the hymn in response to a question about when the Big Three were going to meet; stated the Winnipeg Free Press: 'Mr. Churchill, in one of his somewhat puckish moods, replied that he did not know, but, he added irreverently, 'When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.'

"The British press expressed surprise at Churchill, an Anglican, being familiar with a hymn more associated with Methodism, Presbyterianism, and other 'chapel' denominations or the revival meetings of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey or R. A. Torrey and Charles McCallon Alexander, whereas the Free Press speculated that Churchill might well have heard the 'catchy' tune in the street meetings held by the Salvation Army.^[4] He might also have remembered the lyrics from the 1941 movie Sergeant York."