Music Review: Will The Circle Be Unbroken?

 VERSE 1 

There are loved ones in the glory

Whose dear forms you often miss.

When you close your earthly story,

Will you join them in their bliss?

 CHORUS: 

Will the circle be unbroken

By and by, by and by?

Is a better home awaiting

In the sky, in the sky?

 VERSE 2 

In the joyous days of childhood

Oft they told of wondrous love

Pointed to the dying Saviour;

Now they dwell with Him above.

 (Chorus) 

 VERSE 3 

You remember songs of heaven

Which you sang with childish voice.

Do you love the hymns they taught you,

Or are songs of earth your choice?

 (Chorus) 

 VERSE 4 

You can picture happy gath'rings

Round the fireside long ago,

And you think of tearful partings

When they left you here below.

 (Chorus) 

 VERSE 5 

One by one their seats were emptied.

One by one they went away.

Now the family is parted.

Will it be complete one day?

 (Chorus) 

Three Arrangements of the Hymn

A beautiful, old-time gospel hymn entitled, Will The Circle Be Unbroken? is feature 3x in a most peculiar place—a video game called, Bioshock Infinite. As I played through the game, I heard the tune for the first time as a choral arrangement. It was played during the main character's (Booker DeWitt) somewhat-reluctant baptismal rite, as he entered into the "floating" city of Columbia. Later on in the gameplay, I clicked on a guitar (not expecting it to be interactive) and all of a sudden, Booker picked it up and he started plucking away. Next thing I knew, Elizabeth (the sidekick/damsel in distress) started singing along. Their 40-second duet is featured here in this in-game easter egg.

Then finally, to my surprise, the most-beautiful version of the song was featured during the ending game credits. This time, I got to see an amateur capture of the game's actual voice actors practicing a full version of the song in their studio. As I listened to their beautiful harmonies, I couldn't help but feel the message of this hymn tie strongly into the religious questions I've been studying lately related to the powerful doctrine of family history.

The Spiritual Part of the Post

All men and women are children of a Heavenly Father, making us spiritual brothers and sisters—members of an eternal family. Before our estate on earth, our Father, God, made a plan that would enable all of us children to receive mortal bodies and learn the difference between righteousness & wickedness. In order to return to his presence one day, and receive glorified, immortal bodies, like that of Heavenly Father's, we would need to choose to become like Him in our thoughts, words, and deeds. (That's the purpose of life, btw.) Part of becoming like our Heavenly Father is making sacred covenants which he has revealed to us through his prophets. The first covenant we make, which sets us on the path, is baptism. We all know about that. Additional covenants are made in holy temples of God.

One common concern, regarding God's plan of salvation, is what happens to all those spirits who are not able to fully receive the truth of God's plan and it's corresponding covenants while in this life. Well, God—being all-knowing and all-seeing—established a way for all mankind to receive these covenants either in the flesh, or via proxy after death. (FYI, that's why Mormons are so into temples. Just because spirits are separated from their bodies upon physical death doesn't mean that their progression must stop there; spirit is eternal.) Throughout time, God has promised that every one of His spirit children will have the opportunity to receive these saving covenants. He will not forget a single one of us. (Remember that our beloved dead still have agency regarding in their respective eternal destinies—the power to choose to accept or reject these ordinances performed on their behalf will always be theirs. The important thing is that they all have the opportunity.)

One of these temple covenants, essential for salvation, is that of sealing—God's power to unify earthly things for all eternity. When a man and woman are married for time and all eternity, they are sealed together by the power of God's Spirit. Children born into those marriage covenants are naturally adopted into that eternal family unit.

Now God's work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of ALL man (Moses 1:39). Part of that work involves making sure we are ALL sealed to one another—like an unbroken circle. One of the final teachings from one of God's final, Old Testament prophets was—and I'm paraphrasing here—we all come back home together, or we don't come home at all (Malachi 4:5-6). Pretty cool, right?

However, life doesn't always go according to plan. Things happen to mess with these cookie-cutter, eternal families. Divorce, annulled covenants, and many other things can cause these connections to become disjointed. What then happens to this perfect family circle, bound with eternal bonds?

As I've studied the nitty gritty details (pun intended*) of how sealings operate, Malachi's promise has been fulfilled in my life. Truly my heart has been turned to my fathers. As I listened to the words of this hymn, I realized how deeply I care about all those who have lived on this earth, both past and present. I'm not just thinking about wanting to be with my close relatives, like my deceased grandparents; I'm thinking about the entire human race. I love God and I love all of you, my brothers and sisters. And I have gained a personal witness over that past 6 weeks that by the end of Jesus Christ's millennial reign (1000 years after the 2nd Coming), the saving ordinances required for every soul born to this earth will be complete. (Brigham Young Journal of Discourses, vol. 2 p. 289) And I will continue to strive to do what I can to make that circle be unbroken.

Bonus

• Randy Travis does a killer version of the hymn too.
• Another vocal treasure from Bioshock Infinite—A barbershop version of God Only Knows, originally by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.
• *The Nitty Gritty Band has an album named after the worship hymn.