Maybe only a person without eyesight could have seen enough to write this one. That’s a concise way of putting it, Virgil and Blanche Brock might have said, as they remembered ‘Beyond the Sunset” that they and a blind man spontaneously collaborated to write in 1936. There are many stunning sunsets, but how can one say he’s seen beyond one? Could viewing one from outside planet Earth be one way to fathom this – perhaps like this one shown here from the planet Mars? If it’s beyond, perhaps that’s why it looks rather dim from Mars. But, that’s probably not what Virgil’s cousin meant when he was describing what he saw, and then coaxing his dinner partners to write and sing what he could envision through their eyes. What was it they saw together?
It was pretty lucky, or was it something else, that contributed to Virgil Brock and his wife writing a song they hadn’t planned to craft one summer evening in Indiana? Virgil did not even know how to write music, but his wife Blanche did. And, Virgil’s cousin, Horace Burr, could not even see. So, how unlikely was it that someone without music-writing skills and another who was blind would help put together ‘Beyond the Sunset’? Good thing Blanche was there, right? From a purely human standpoint, that might be true. But, who made the sunset that the Brocks, and Horace and Grace Burr, and others at the dinner were able to admire on the nearby Winona Lake that evening? That’s not a hard one to answer, and the dinner companions must have all been thinking and imagining with the same thoughts, for the four verses of ‘Beyond…’ came to life before that evening was over. The sunset they were seeing actually spurred their vision of a sunrise in the Creator’s home, where they all longed to be. The Brocks and Burrs recognized the Divine One’s hand in the sunset that evening, as the lake gleamed with the brilliance of the beams from millions of miles away. At the same time, clouds that He also made gathered overhead to warn of a coming storm. The coalescence of these wonders brought out the exclamations, including Horace’s, who noted that he’d never seen a sunset so awesome, of course with the help of his seeing companions. Then, he blithely added that he could actually see ‘beyond the sunset’. The rest, as has been said of other events, is history. They all saw heaven, without ‘clouds’, ‘storms’, or ‘fears’ (v.2), a place where all that mattered was the presence of the ‘Savior’ (v.1), ‘God the Father’ (v.3), and ‘dear loved ones’ (v.4).
Sunsets are about endings, while the Brocks and the others in Indiana in 1936 yearned for the eternal beginning. Think about what it will be like for some to see in heaven for the first time with functioning eyes – people like Horace Burr, and others like Fanny Crosby. What a beginning! Their minds won’t be clouded by memories of earthbound sights, things that we sigh over here while we’re mortal. Everything will be new – ‘I am making everything new!’ (Revelation 21:5), He promises. You might think that it’s too much to take in; and, you’d be right. I cannot even take in adequately the sunsets and dawns while I’m here today; I’m usually otherwise occupied. But, in that great beyond, I will have forever to admire what He’s made for me to see. It’ll be new, just like it will be for Horace and Fanny, and everyone else. Wanna look?
See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1985; and Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc., 2003.
Also see this link for author’s biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/r/o/c/brock_vp.htm
See here also for song story: https://www.thedestinlog.com/story/lifestyle/faith/2018/10/03/story-behind-song-look-beyond-sunset/9714928007/
Also see this link, showing all four original verses: https://www.lyricsbox.com/religious-music-beyond-the-sunset-lyrics-5h8s6s9.html
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