When He Comes In Glory By and By -- A.A. Westbrook

He’s nearly anonymous, but not quite. Arthur Allen Westbrook was evidently a 24-year old Oklahoman who wrote and published multiple songs in the early 20^th Century, but was satisfied with his status, such as it was. He had a family and a reputation in the area where he lived, and that was enough, as suggested by the granddaughter who remembers what it was like to be with A.A., some 40 years after he imagined what it would be like when he wrote “When He Comes In Glory By and By”. He’d live for over another 50 years, but Westbrook was wasting no time on other matters, to the exclusion of considering what awaited everyone who could appreciate his words. He wanted to coax everyone, not just by his lifestyle, but also by nourishing and sharing some mental imagery that stirred his being.  

Arthur (most often called A. A. in his younger years, according to the granddaughter) probably spent the vast majority of his life in the Idabel area of far southeastern Oklahoma, conducting his life in various roles before his neighbors and family. He was reportedly involved in various musical efforts, especially in his early life. He and a twin brother (O.O.) sang in a quartet, including numerous times at community songfests on Sundays in the region. He apparently published many hymnals containing his own compositions, but his reputation was not confined to just those who attended churches with the Westbrooks or who appreciated music. He was well-known as a school teacher, principal, and superintendent; postmaster-general; and a local newspaper editor. He involved himself in local Democratic Party politics, in addition to the church, and spent his retirement years as a farmer. So, A.A. had lots of venues in his own walks of life to let others know what he thought, particularly about how life ought to be lived. ‘What do you expect to do at life’s end?’, one could have imagined somebody asking A.A. ‘When He Comes…’ was probably on A.A.’s lips, in one form or another,  as he answered those who might have queried him on this subject. From children he would have taught, to adults with whom he would have communicated in his newspaper-writing, A.A. would not have been a mystery to southeastern Oklahomans. What sparked A.A. to write ‘When He Comes…’? No particular story emerges, but the life’s course its composer had taken as a young man, and the words he recorded, suggested he was someone who leaned forward, living expectantly. He was ‘joy’-ful, savoring the ‘sweet’ (see v.1 and the song’s refrain) thought of what he knew was inevitable.

For A.A. Westbrook, it wasn’t ‘if’, but ‘when’. In 1911, God’s return seemed certain, and from what his offspring has related, A.A’s vision of that hadn’t dimmed many years later. Even two millennia after His ascension, believers can live like A.A. – eagerly. The Creator’s return will be like no other (1 Thessalonians 4), and something that no one will be able to avoid or ignore. ‘Why would I want to do that?’, you might imagine A.A. would have asked out loud. It’ll be a dazzling scene for sure, but one others might find terrifying (Hebrews 12). Which sensation do you want, if it’s one you must experience? Dazzling, or terrifying?        

The following fellow hymn blogger’s site is the only source of information on the composer: https://hymnstudiesblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/quotwhen-he-comes-in-glory-by-and-byquot/