Poor Wayfaring Stranger

My friend Zoe Tolton and I have done many songs together through the years (see him here rapping on one of my tunes). He has been working on putting together some music for a worship midweek and asked if I had a version of “Poor Wayfaring Stranger.” My mom is a trained opera singer and used to sing a powerful and moving version of this song, so it always reminds me of her. When I think about how old this song is (dating back to the civil war and perhaps beyond, many variations), I think of the many struggles different Christians have experienced through the ages, and the comfort these words may have brought them. Times can be tough, but “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor 4:17).

I am a poor wayfaring stranger
A’wandering through this world of woe
Yet there’s no sickness, toil, or danger
In that bright land to which I go

I’m going there to see my Savior
I’m going there no more to roam
I’m only going over Jordan
I’m only going over home

I know dark clouds will gather ’round me
I know my way is rough and steep
But beauteous fields lie just before me
Where souls redeemed, their vigil keep

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