SWEET BY & BY

In 1868, a 31-year-old pharmacist named Sanford Bennett was filling prescriptions at his apothecary in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.  His friend, Joseph Webster entered the store.  Joseph was a local musician, violinist, vocalist and amateur composer…who suffered from periods of depression.  The two men had occasionally collaborated on hymns and songs…Sanford writing texts and Joseph composing the music.

On this particular day, Joseph was unusually blue and his face long.  Looking up from his work, Sanford asked, “What is the matter, Joseph?”  “It’s no matter,” Joseph replied, “it will be alright by and by.” 

Like a flash of sunlight, that comment inspired a hymn text.  Ignoring some customers that had come in to the store, Sanford sat at his desk and wrote as fast he could.  Finishing the text, he gave the paper to his friend Joseph, assuring him with “Here is your prescription, Joe!”  Instantly, a tune came to Joseph’s mind and he jotted down some notes.  Picking up a fiddle he began to play.  Those who were in the store joined in as the group sang for the first time the hymn that has blessed so many through the years…and still today. 

It was their Hymn… “SWEET BY AND BY”.  It expresses our hope of heaven. It was a hymn composed in only 30 minutes at a drugstore.  Now, that has to be the best prescription ever given!