Somewhat off-topic, the 2nd verse of the version that Jon W. 21 Aug 98 - 12:16 PM shared seemed familiar to me. I thought I had read a verse like that in Thomas W. Talley's 1922 collection Negro Folk Rhymes-Wise and Otherwise, so this morning I looked for and found that verse:

How To Get To Glory Land

If you want to git to Glory Land,
I'll tell you what to do.
Jes grease yo' heels wid mutton sue,
W'en de Devil's atter you.
Jes grease yo' heel an' grease yo' han'
An' slip 'way-over into Glory Lan'.

(p.96, Kennikat Press Edition, 1968)

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Here's another reference from that same book about "stick some plaster on their heels/and draw them up to Glory" ("Glory" and "Glory Land" means heaven:

Mammy an' daddy's dead an'gone.
Did you ever hear deir story?
Dey sticked some plaster on deir heels,
An' drawed 'em up to Glory.

(from "Plaster", Thomas W. Talley,Negro Folk Rhymes-Wise and Otherwise, pp. 60-61)

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Also, more recently Bo Diddley's song "Dearest Darling" includes this verse which has a similar theme:

If I get to heaven before you do
I'll try to make a hole and pull you through

http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/b/bodiddley598/dearestdarling335180.html

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I'm sure there are probably other 19th century, twentieth century examples of this floating theme if not those floating verses.