Saying good-bye has never been easy—especially when we have concerns about where loved ones are going or how long they’ll be gone. But knowing that good-bye is really a pronouncement of the blessing “God be with you” can make the separation more bearable.
The word good-bye was formed from the longer phrase “God be with you” during the 16th century. For all who seek to bless family, friends, and associates with divine help, this unsaid meaning of good-bye can remain the same—go with a prayer for heaven’s blessing from those who care.
When the former president of Howard University, Jeremiah Rankin, learned the history of the word good-bye, he wrote the hymn “God Be with You.”1 It soon became a favorite of congregations everywhere and has been sung at many heartfelt farewells over the decades.
For example, at the end of World War II, a Christian missionary prepared to leave New Guinea after serving there for eight years. She had been imprisoned during the war, her husband had died, and she was now returning home a 28-year-old widow without a single possession. She wondered if her mission had been worthwhile and struggled with feelings of bitterness. As the boat set sail, she heard Indonesian voices singing, “God be with you till we meet again.” The words sank deep into her heart and set in motion a healing of her soul.2
Such loving farewells comfort those who leave as well as those who stay behind. For many years at the conclusion of this broadcast we have sung to our live audiences—and today we sing to each of you—“God be with you till we meet again.”
Program #3987
1 See Robert J. Morgan, Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories (2003), 205.
2 See Morgan, Then Sings My Soul, 205.