Will The Circle Be Unbroken

Surely, most of us are familiar with that great old country song “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”. This great song of mourning, mixed with hope for a brighter day of re-union in heaven, first originated as a hymn in 1907. In the 1920’s, A. P. Carter of the Carter family re-worked the song into a set of lyrics most of us would somewhat recognize today called, “Can The Circle Be Unbroken”. Throughout the years "Can" has been replaced again with "Will" and many a Grand Ole Opry show has been closed with the entire cast and audience singing this song that should make us all stop and think about where we will spend eternity.

In the early 1970’s the entire family gathered at my maternal grandparents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Before that decade had ended, we lost them both to the curse that is death. Since then I have experienced the death of my paternal grandparents as well as many aunts, uncles, and even cousins. The older I become, the more I start realizing that there are more and more family members who we used to have fellowship on a regular basis, who are no longer here.

That grand circle that used to be our families has been broken far too many times. All we have left now are memories and a promise that if each of us has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, then one day that circle will be unbroken and we will celebrate together, in that greatest of homecomings that all of creation has ever known. However, the only way we can know that our circle will be unbroken is to know where our hearts are.

Do you ever stop and think of what it would be for there to be a broken circle in Heaven? Those who have already gone before us, their time is finished, and we must have faith that each of them had acknowledged Christ as their Lord and Savior, and that now their soul is in heaven, waiting on the rest of us to join them. However, if you are reading this now, you still have an opportunity to join that circle in heaven. The only soul you can make sure is there, is yourself, because each of us as individuals is ultimately responsible for our personal decision. The Bible makes it very clear that we must all accept Him or in that, great Day of Judgment, He will say “I never knew you: depart from me”.

While we all grieve for loved ones who have passed on, God’s promises are true. All of us can be re-united one day, if only we will confess our sins, and believe that Jesus came and died so that we could one day be a part of a magnificent unbroken circle around God’s eternal throne.

The last two verses of the original 1907 Hymn are telling of what we have all experienced in our own lives. Verse 4: “You can picture happy gath’rings round the fireside long ago, and you can think of tearful partings when they left you here below. Verse 5: One by one their seats were emptied, one by one they went away, now the family is parted, will it be complete one day?”

“Will the circle be unbroken, by and by Lord, by and by? There’s a better home awaiting, in the sky Lord, in the sky.” My prayer is that mine is not broken and that one day I can once again stand with those who I miss so much. Every day teaches me just how short life really is, and every time I stand in a cemetery and watch a casket being lowered beneath the sod, a piece of me goes with them. One day I want to stand before God in an unbroken family circle. Can we all make that same commitment to our family that one day in Heaven we will all join together in an unbroken circle once again?