About This Poem
Safely Home
I am home in heaven, dear ones;
Oh, so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.
All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in heaven at last.
Did you wonder how I so calmly
Trod the valley of the shade?
Oh, but Jesus’ love illumined
Every dark and fearful glade.
And He came Himself to meet me
In that way so hard to tread;
And with Jesus’ arm to lean on,
Could I have one doubt or dread?
Then you must not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still;
Try to look beyond earth’s shadows,
Pray to trust our Father’s will.
There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idly stand;
Do it now, while life remaineth —
You shall rest in Jesus’ land.
When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you home;
Oh, the rapture of that meeting,
Oh, the joy to see you come!
Nobody knows who wrote it. It turns up in hymnals and on memorial cards marked “author unknown”, and small words vary from printing to printing — “while life remaineth” or “while life remains”, “Jesus’ land” or “God’s own land”. Use whichever version your family knows.
Reading It at a Funeral
The poem works best read aloud by one voice, slowly, without introduction beyond the title. It is short — under two minutes — which makes it a good choice for a family member who wants to take part but is worried about getting through something long.
If the full poem is too much, the first and last verses stand on their own: “I am home in heaven, dear ones” and “When that work is all completed”. The middle verse — “Then you must not grieve so sorely, for I love you dearly still” — is the one people tend to remember afterwards, and it is worth keeping if you can.
One gentle note for Catholic families. The poem speaks as though the person is already in heaven, and that is the hope everyone in the room shares. The Church’s practice is to go on praying for the dead as well — to entrust them to God’s mercy rather than assume the journey is finished. The two sit together comfortably: read the poem for the family’s comfort, and pray the prayers below for the one you have lost.
Eternal Rest
The Church’s traditional prayer for the dead, said at every Catholic funeral and at the graveside:
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.
May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.
A Prayer for the One Who Has Gone Home
Lord Jesus, you promised a room in your Father’s house
and said you would come back to bring us there yourself.
Come for [name] now.
Meet them on the road, as the poem says you do,
and let them lean on your arm the whole way.
Forgive whatever needs forgiving,
finish whatever was left unfinished,
and bring them safely home.
Amen.
A Prayer for Those Left Behind
Lord, they have gone home and I am still here,
and I do not know yet how to be glad for them
without being wrecked for myself.
Let me grieve as much as I need to,
and no more than I can bear.
When the house is too quiet,
be the one who is in it with me.
Show me the work that is still waiting for me,
and give me the strength to do it,
until you call me home too
and I see them come to meet me.
Amen.
When to Use This Poem
- As a reading at a funeral, memorial service or graveside.
- Printed inside a memorial card or order of service.
- On the anniversary of a death.
- In November, the month the Church sets aside for the dead — especially All Souls’ Day, 2 November.
- When writing to someone who is grieving and you cannot find your own words.
- Late at night, when the loss is new and you need to hear that they are at peace.
Scripture Connection
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” — John 14:2–3
The whole poem is built on this promise — the place prepared, and Jesus coming himself to bring his friend there. “He came Himself to meet me in that way so hard to tread” is the second half of that verse, told from the other side. And the rest the poem describes is the one promised in Revelation: “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” (21:4).
Related prayers
For a particular loss, see the Prayer for Dad in Heaven, which also covers how Catholics pray for the dead. The Prayer for a Happy Death is for someone who is dying now, and for the family at the bedside.