In this issue of The Merry Mystic, I share a new hymn about unity.
Last week, I shared something from the book chapter I’m working on—my sequel to The Inn of God’s Forgiveness. I introduced a metaphor for self-serving institutions like states and churches, and I asked a question: what kind of unity should we be seeking? Thanks for all your responses! I’m still mulling them over, and I’ll be responding more soon.
Last week, I wrote:
I want to cast a hopeful vision about a different way to understand Jesus’ prayer, that they may all be one. Not one in race or caste or language; not one in national or political affiliation; not one in church or creed. I don’t think that God desires that any part of our beautiful diversity should be erased. I’ve written a hymn about this, and I’ll share it with you another time.
That time is now: here’s my hymn, “That We May All Be One.”
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Sheet music and lyrics for the hymn can be freely downloaded here, and may be freely copied (for non-commercial use).
Hi Adam! I have a face book page titled TAMBO That all may be one. I have been trying to get his same message out, that we all may be one with Lord and serve and love each other in God’s will for our lives individual and together . Thank you for this lovely hymn.!! May God continue to inspire and Bless you. Love in Christ, Nan
How cool is that! Thanks, Nancy.
So… two more heady thoughts on your developing theme:That We May All Be One
First, I am wondering if Jesus’ call is a call for us to *do* something so that we can *be* something – i.e. do this, then we will all be one – or is it a call for us to recognize the reality that we are all One (to *be* that) and as a result to act out of that reality?
Second, unless we think in terms of ecosystems, I don’t think our conception of “being one” makes any sense at all. It’s like the lion lying down with the lamb – that Isaiah verse (though much loved by the Quaker artists) always bugged the heck out of me because a lion that lies down with a lamb really isn’t a lion, you know? The lion and lamb can’t be one by giving up being themselves; they can only be one by recognizing they are both part of something larger than themselves that somehow maintains them both.
Thought 1 reminds me of some of my childhood spiritual experiences, which involved a sense of oneness that I found rather frightening. Who am I, if I don’t stop at what I used to think of as my own boundaries? Perhaps the realization of unity leads to compassionate action, or perhaps it’s the other way around. Or perhaps both, circularly, in a unity of being and doing?
I think I know what you mean about the lion and lamb. Your thought 2 makes me think of one of my favorite English Romantic poets, William Blake. There’s a passage in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell that ends: “This Angel, who is now become a Devil, is my particular friend; we often read the Bible together in its infernal or diabolical sense which the world shall have if they behave well. I have also The Bible of Hell, which the world shall have whether they will or no.”
“One Law for the Lion & Ox is Oppression.”
“One Law for the Lion & Ox is Oppression” – dang that’s a powerful expression. I had never heard that line from Blake, and now it’s been with me day and night since you posted it.
Just one application: Black lives matter. It is so tempting to respond to “Black lives matter” by saying “All lives matter.” It took me more time than I’d like to admit to see how stating one law for everyone works really well for me as a person of privilege, but glosses over very real oppression for some.