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FOR TODAY Listen to the song "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.
Listen carefully to the lyrics of this song (or read them) especially the refrain “like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down…I will ease your mind." When you're weary, feeling small When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all, all I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough And friends just can't be found Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down When you're down and out When you're on the street When evening falls so hard I will comfort you I'll take your part, oh, when darkness comes And pain is all around Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down Sail on silver girl Sail on by Your time has come to shine All your dreams are on their way See how they shine Oh, if you need a friend I'm sailing right behind Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind You may recall the words of Jesus when he said, “come to me, all you who weary or burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) In this song, we may be moved to feel what the disciples felt when they heard such reassuring words spoken to them. At no point in Jesus’ ministry did he deny the difficulty or hardship that accompanied true discipleship. Instead, he always pointed to reassuring phrases even until the end when he said, “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." (John 14:18) The history of how this song came about is interesting. Paul Simon recalls composing this song very quickly, so much so that he asked himself: "Where did that come from? It doesn't seem like me." The title concept was inspired by Claude Jeter's line "I'll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in my name," which Jeter sang with his group in the 1958 song, “Mary Don’t You Weep." Simon also named Johann Sebastian Bach's "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" as a source of inspiration for parts of the melody. Acknowledging the gospel influences in this song, it is easy to be moved by Simon and Garfunkel’s description of a sacrificial type of love that is ever-present and comforting even in the hardest of times.
FOR FURTHER REFLECTION Have you ever experienced a sense of alienation or difficulty and yet felt comfort in the reassurance of Jesus’ promise to be with us and for us? This song points to the image of light: "your time has come to shine." How have your experiences of difficulty helped to shine light or point to the light for others?
JESUS This is our theme for our last week of devotions: Jesus. Rather than offer technical answers, orthodox dogma or theological doctrine, let's give this week to our sanctified imagination and ponder our own creed about Jesus. Let us trust that doing so is not for the lack of faith or heretical inclination, but that it awakens our desire to more deeply cultivate our response to the question, who do I say Jesus is? Find all previous daily devotionals here
Join us for our 50th Jubilee Celebration events, December 3-5, online. Details can be found here: www.diocgc.org/just-mercy-just-jesus.