Beulah Land Part Uno

I was in a service recently and the congregational singing was an old hymn entitled “Beulah Land.” I must confess it was the first time I had ever heard this hymn. I noticed older men and women in the service raising their hands as they worshipped. As I found myself reading the words off the jumbo tron, I was utterly confused about what I was singing. Beulah Land? Who is Beulah, and why do I want to go to her land? Where is Beulah’s Land? After doing a little research I have discovered that “Beulah Land” refers to heaven. As a matter a fact, the writer of this hymn, Edgar P. Stites, wrote this hymn in parts because he said it moved him so much that he would write a few lines and then fall on his face in praise and weep before God. That means that this song meant a great deal to the generation in which it was written and to which it connected. Now I felt a little intimidated the night we were singing it. I mean after all I hold a B.A. degree in Biblical and Theological Studies (impressive huh?) I should know about “Beulah Land.” Am I not read well enough? Am I theologically illiterate? How did I miss that? I have found that none of this is true, but rather it is a generational and cultural disconnect.