Should some hymns be laid to rest?
Link courtesy of The Curt Jester.
I love the music and concept of "I am the bread of life" and only wish that it was not written in vox dei. I propose that we start a new movement to make some of these hymns theologically correct - by rewriting the lyrics.
A brief example:
Jesus the bread of life
Those who come to him will not perish
If you believe, you shall not die.
And He was raised up on the third day.
Well, I am not a hymn writer, unlike one of my distant ancestors. But I think that, if the inclusive language police can Bowdlerize some of my favorite traditional hymns, I should be able to edit their contemporary works, no?
wow, FV looks better and better every time I look at it!
I wish more hymns were written in the second person. Not the Vox Dei (I, the Lord/ of sea and sky) and not the talking-about-God third person (Our God is an awesome God!) but directly addressing God: "Lord Jesus, think on me/ with care and woe oppressed/ From earthborn passions set me free/ and taste Thy promised rest"
by the way, am I the only one who does not care for the phrase "our God"? "Our God" is an awesome God, "Our God" is caring and merciful, etc. I don't know why this phrase grates on me so. Perhaps it's the unsaid second part: "And your God (or their God) isn't!"
Watch out! John six (the text you're working with) isn't referring to Jesus's resurrection --- it's referring to _our_ resurrection, which Jesus has promised. So please don't rewrite it to take away the promise; especially this close to the feast of the Assumption/Dormition which shows this promise so clearly.
Also, see my blog, where there's a song (to the tune "Church's One Foundation") about the development of English-language Church music. A don't think it's bad for a piece of doggerel.....
"Our God" never really struck me that way, but I know someone who will say, "My God doesn't... [whatever]" in some disagreement with me and it sounds so incredibly arrogant, and also unintentionally I am sure as if this person (also an orthodox Catholic) chooses to believe in a better God than mine.
These expressions "My God..." and "Our God..." really can convey an air of smugness, as if the speaker had God in his pocket.