Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006. LET ME KNOW: How has Eliza’s story informed, encouraged, or otherwise helped you? I welcome your comments.īibliography. Eliza lived to age sixty-nine, having never married. She eventually regained enough strength to serve as a weekly Sunday school teacher. Eliza’s phrase is, “Not (even) a shadow, not (even) a sigh.” In verse four, Eliza wraps it up by referring to two physical aspects of Heaven taken from Revelation 21:21: “Soon the pearly gates will open, We shall tread the streets of gold.”Īlong with poems-turned-hymns, Eliza wrote children’s poems and Sunday school literature.
The first verse concludes with words right out of the opening of John chapter fourteen: “in the mansions bright and blessed, He’ll prepare for us a place.” The second verse is a reminder of Revelation 2:4, that in Heaven all sorrow, pain, and death are vanquished.
Emily added the tune that, with Eliza’s words, is the song, “When We All Get to Heaven.” It lives on today in various denominational hymnals.Įliza’s scriptural inspirations for the song are many. She showed her poem to a friend, Emily Wilson, who was a musician.
“WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN” -1898 (music by Emily Wilson)Ī few hymns stand out as anthems about Heaven. Eliza took the words of one of them with her one summer to the annual Christian conference at Ocean Grove in New Jersey. Eliza met the blind songwriter one day at the Kirkpatrick home. The two women became good friends. You can read Eliza’s tribute to Fanny (in the “hymntime” link below) that she wrote in 1905, the year Fanny turned eighty-five. Kirkpatrick had written music for Fanny Crosby songs. “MORE ABOUT JESUS” -1887 (music by John R. They are hymns that have spoken to Christians around the world. Here are three other hymns that grew out of Eliza’s life of pain and prayer. John and others kept adding music to her poems. He published the song in a hymnal in 1887.Įliza had painful relapses, but she continued writing. The fourth stanza includes, “For blessings which He gives me now, for joys ‘laid up’ above.” A fellow Pennsylvanian, Gospel music tunesmith, John Sweney, added fitting upbeat music to Eliza’s words. Not only for momentary happiness but for the eternal perspective. The words of her poem, “Sunshine in My Soul,” point to Jesus as the source for her joy. After being confined throughout the winter in her room, immobilized in a body cast, each step she took that spring day filled her heart with gratefulness to God. When she returned home, Eliza put her thoughts into a poem. The day the doctor removed her cast, he told Eliza to take a short walk. It limited all physical activity for the next six months. He swung it at his teacher, striking her hard across the back. While disciplining a male student, he became angry and picked up his slate board. Her love for learning and for children led her to become a schoolteacher. A few years later, Eliza graduated from school at the top of her class. During the Civil War, her family lived only about 140 miles from the action at Gettysburg. Among those servants of God were Charlotte Elliot (1789-1871) who wrote “Just As I Am,” Lydia Baxter (1809-1874) who penned “Take the Name of Jesus with You,” and Francis Havergal (1836-1878) who authored “Take My Life and Let it Be.”Įliza’s story began in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Eliza Hewitt was one of a handful of Christian women who, regardless of and because of physical suffering, wrote lyrics to some of our outstanding hymns.
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