You may have heard a preacher say: consider the words of the hymns/songs in front of you and if you don’t agree with them, don’t sing them!
Take my life, and let it be is a hymn that should cause all of us to pause at its words. There are many items that Havergal suggests we give to God: ‘Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King’.
My birthday treat last month was to see the holograms in Abba Voyage. Was I really not supposed to come away full of Andersson and Ulvaeus’ tunes?
‘Take my intellect and use every power as thou shalt choose’: but I love cryptic crosswords and killer sudokus; do I really have to give them up?
And the two lines that are lying in wait to trip us all up: ‘Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold’.
Let there be peace on earth, written by Jill Jackson and Sy Miller, is a hymn focusing on today’s topic of peace which gives me similar problems to Take my life. Peace is a topical theme, both because we will soon be celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace and because the world is sadly experiencing far too much warfare. My struggle with this hymn is its second line: ‘Let There Be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me’. I am a tad pedantic; I like facts to be correct and opinions to be well-informed.
For peace to ‘begin with me’ would mean I couldn’t challenge others’ facts or views, for fear it stirred up conflict. It would mean I might never be able to offer an opinion of my own…but if I have given my intellect to God to use, he might be speaking through me….LOL! I realise these are facetious comments but if all believers put peace ahead of other considerations, there would never have been any conflicts among Christian communities!
A topical issue, as I write this, which threatens to create a non-peaceful situation in churches and even within Christian families is that of the Assisted Dying Bill. I’ve had informal discussions at church that have revealed divided opinions; in fact, I have recently spoken to those who not only agree with the Bill but think it does not go far enough.
A lovely woman on the fringe of our church asked, over coffee and cake: what does this church think of the Assisted Dying Bill? I replied that even around the table of six, there were opposing views. I was expecting her to ask: ‘Doesn’t the Bible/Jesus have something to offer on the subject?’ And, of course, the answer is no, not directly. However, back to Havergal – if we have indeed given our intellects to God, then all of us were speaking God’s words. I’d better stop writing in case I stir up a non-peaceful situation.
Prayer:
Prince of Peace, we need your message today as much as ever. Speak to us and through us to bring the peace that passes understanding. Amen.
Elaine Kinchin
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