He was
obviously paying attention to what was going on above his head one night, that
there was something special up there. What captured the attention of Josiah K.
Alwood one night was a storm and the spectacle he witnessed because of it, and
these stayed with him the following morning, causing him to think of “The
Unclouded Day” – actually a place where he would see many more spectacles one
day. He was near the Ohio-Michigan border (see picture) late at night, as he
had been on probably numerous occasions, having been engaged in a discussion
about God and His purposes. So, his mind was already prepared to receive a special
nudge, something unique that he just needed to put into words and fuse it with
some music.
Josiah
Kelly Alwood’s “The Unclouded Day” is perhaps the only song attributed to this
19th Century travelling preacher, making the incident that spurred its
creation just that much more interesting. This 51-year-old was caught in a
storm one night in August 1879, but the inconvenience of being alone, probably a
little wet, and tired at one o’clock in the morning did not distract him from viewing
an unusual rainbow that was set against a large cloud as he neared his home in
southern Michigan. Unusual, because it was the dead of night, so a visible rainbow
was indeed rare for that time of day. His own account of the incident (see the
link below) indicates he was entranced by this episode, such that he arose the
following morning still thinking about what he’d experienced. It wasn’t long
before he’d penned the words to four verses and plunked out the notes on an
organ. He must have thought about the place and time that awaited, where he expected
to see wonders perpetually like the rainbow of the previous evening. What kinds
of visions did he imagine on the unclouded day? Most of all, perhaps, he
thought of calling this place ‘home’ (vv.1-2, refrain). Was it an accident that
he was on his way toward home in Morenci, Michigan, when he saw something that
made him dream of another more long-term home? What does one expect to find at
home? Josiah thought of friends already there, and about how the God-provided
sustenance – the tree of life – would nourish the place and its inhabitants (v.
2). And, of course Alwood thought of the sovereign in the home above, and how
he would marvel at his appearance and the trappings of that place (v.3).
Finally, Josiah could inwardly smile, knowing that everyone is happy there in the
Divine One’s presence (v.4). This was some rainbow, to make Josiah reflect and
record what his mind’s eye beheld!
Rainbow =
promise. That’s what Noah could tell us about the one he encountered (Genesis
9:13-16). Is that what Josiah maybe was thinking when he saw that rainbow in August
1879, a sign that God was going to keep His promise? That would be a reasonable
conclusion, since Josiah writes of the promise of heaven with palpable conviction.
There’s other biblical rainbow talk, though, closer to the end of what God has
to say to us. John saw and wrote about it (Revelation 4:3; 10:1), seeing the
rainbow not as a promise, but as adornment of God and his servants. Maybe that’s
part of what Josiah sensed too – a bit of God’s home breaking into view, a foretaste
of what’s to come. A promise and a glimpse of Him. Keep looking for that
rainbow.
See more
information on the song story in this source: The Complete Book of
Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J.
Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.
Also see this link, showing all the song’s words and the
song story: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/u/n/c/uncloudd.htm
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