What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?

I’m thinking of friends whom I used to know,
Who lived and suffered in this world below
But they’ve gone off to heaven, but I want to know
What are they doing right now?

Chorus
Oh, what are they doing in heaven today,
Where sin and sorrow are all done away?
Peace abounds like a river, they say.
But what are they doing right now?

And there’s some whose bodies were full of disease
Physicians and doctors couldn’t give them much ease
But they suffered ’til death brought a final release
But what are they doing right now?

Chorus

There’s some who were poor and often despised
They looked up to heaven with tear-blinded eyes
While people were heedless and deaf to their cries
But what are they doing right now?

Chorus

There are multiple accompaniments to this song. There is a version found in some hymnals. The recording below is played on folk instruments and sung by a folk singer: