My Latest Sun Is Sinking Fast – Jefferson Hascall

 

This guy was evidently very passionate, not wanting anyone to miss out on the eternal gift that he could see. And so, Jefferson Hascall composed some poetry that he must have felt, when paired with an appropriate tune, would tug at people’s heartstrings and induce them to visualize a scene in which “My Latest Sun Is Sinking Fast”, a spiritual metaphor for death and a bodily resurrection. Jefferson had almost certainly been to camp meetings held during the era of the 2^nd and 3^rd Great Awakenings in America, or had spoken at the church where he served in the Shrewsbury, Massachusetts area, in his efforts to spread the Good News. (See this engraving depicting a Methodist camp meeting in the early 1800s, perhaps quite similar to one that Hascall might have attended [engraving by M. Dubourg of an 1819 piece of artwork by Jacques Gerard Milbert].) This period was also leading up to a cataclysmic event in the mid-19^th Century, so could that have also been on the mind of this church elder who was 53 years old (as of 1860, when his song was published)?

 

Jefferson Hascall was not alone in his appetite for the message he sought to communicate as early as the late 1820s, when he graduated from an academy and set out to be a minister. Perhaps it was nearly two decades later (1847-48), during or soon after the construction of a Methodist church in Shrewsbury, that his fire for winning souls was most ardent. Reportedly some 100 people were converted due to his efforts, in one of many places across the burgeoning American landscape where revivals were filling church pews with fervent new believers. One of the facets of this revival was a social reform component, which in Jefferson’s case meant an unswerving commitment to abolition of slavery, including during the Civil War. The combination of the ongoing religious awakening and the growing resolve of abolitionists and their opponents undoubtedly made for an explosive situation – perhaps one that was inevitable, despite many efforts over the preceding decades to head off this conflict. We know not exactly what particular circumstances motivated Jefferson, but whatever it was, he was thinking a lot about death’s approach and what awaited mortal man in the beyond. Would Jefferson’s words have resonated deeply in the hearts of more than a few young men, those who were expectant combatants in the looming war? Other social ills – such as the Temperance Movement that sought to stem rampant alcoholism -- have also typically been the targets of the reform agendas that accompany revivals, so perhaps that was part of the wind that was blowing to help spread the fire of Jefferson’s message. Whatever it was that lit the revival’s torch, Jefferson saw that life’s end was certain, but that the end did not have to be dreadful. Instead, Jefferson’s words resound with joy and expectation: ‘Triumph’ (v.1); ‘friends…kindred dear’ (v.2); ‘heav’nly home’ (v.3); and ‘victory’ (v.4) all gather around a chorus that tells of an ‘angel band’ to escort the blessed on ‘snowy wings’ to ‘eternal home’.  ‘Strongest trials’ (v.1) and ‘…all sin’ (v.4) are in the rearview. Could it have been that all this imagery Jefferson used offered his hearers a choice that seemed pretty direct and rational?

 

It wasn’t fire and brimstone stuff that Jefferson preached. Perhaps the world where he and his fellow citizens lived had enough problems, so that they readily accepted an alternative vision of life – glorified life. Was that the key ingredient in the Great Awakenings, that lives mired in adversities sought out a hope that could not be attained while on earth? If there’s too many hurdles to overcome, a poverty in one’s existence can seem inescapable. So, join with others who are also hurting, but who are seeking and finding something – actually, someone called God – on a promised new plane. Sounds pretty inviting, right? Jefferson thought so. If, some 175 years beyond Jefferson’s time, you too are discovering that you need a revival, why not sit yourself down and give a listen to his solution? Your sun might be going down, but it doesn’t have to stay there. Jefferson is inviting you to the next dawn.      

 

Read some biographical information on the author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/a/s/c/hascall_j.htm   and here:   https://hymnary.org/person/Hascall_Jefferson

 

See the original words of the four verses and the refrain here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/y/l/a/mylatest.htm

 

See more information on the song here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Band_(song)

Read about the social-religious movement in 19^th Century America here: Second Great Awakening - Wikipedia  and here: Third Great Awakening - Wikipedia

 

Read about another issue that may have also impacted revivals in America: Temperance movement in the United States - Wikipedia

 

See information on the picture here: File:Camp meeting of the Methodists in N. America J. Milbert del M. Dubourg sculp (cropped).jpg - Wikimedia Commons.  This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer. {{PD-US}} – US work that is in the public domain in the US for an unspecified reason, but presumably because it was published in the US before 1929.