Celestial Roller Skating

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 by glory for me.

When by the gift of His infinite grace,
I am afforded in heaven a place,
Just to be there and to look on His face
Will through the ages be glory for me.

Friends will be there I have loved long ago,
Joy like a river around me will flow,
Yet, must a smile from my Savior, I know
Will through the ages be glory for me.

O 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.

Seated recently in a congregation that was asked to sing this song (to the tune that its author, Charles Gabriel, composed), I found myself wondering, “If this song is true, what will heaven be like?”

Unbidden, there arose in my mind an image of a roller-skating rink paved with gold. Around this golden circle the faithful swayed from foot to foot as a steam calliope hooted out Gabriel’s jingle: LEFT will be there I have RIGHT long ago, LEFT like a river a-RIGHT me will flow…. Each skater wore golden sleigh-bells that he jiggled and jangled for emphasis while singing the chorus: “Oh that will be (tinkle) glory for me (tinkle) glory for me (tinkle) glory for me (tinkle). Over the whole scene glinted the mirrored facets of a rotating crystal ball.

For a time I thought that the image did not seem fair. My rational self insisted that Gabriel was trying to express an important point, namely, that in eternity, the presence of Christ will be the greatest glory. Try as I might, however, I could not persuade myself that Gabriel had said as much. Swaying music and clinking rhymes simply cannot communicate the message that we might charitably suppose was in Gabriel’s heart when he wrote the song.

And that is a charitable assumption, not supported by the lyrics themselves. While Gabriel is ostensibly writing about the presence of Christ being the greatest glory of eternity, he constantly distracts himself and us from that point. What really matters in the song is the singer’s safety on the beautiful shore, the place he has been accorded, and the friends he meets. Even when Gabriel attempts to shift the focus to the Savior, he makes it clear that that will be “glory for me, glory for me, glory for meeeee.”

The Lord will indeed be the glory of the New Jerusalem. That is a theme worth expressing, and it should wring tears from our hearts. Charles Gabriel leads us to smile at heaven. Much better that we should weep: weep for joy, weep for anticipation, weep for sheer homesickness.

Anne Ross Cousin comes closer to the truth:

The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom’s face,
I will not gaze at glory but on my King of Grace,
Not at the crown He giveth, but on His pierced hand,
The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel’s land.

Now that’s a heaven worth waiting up for.