Dear diary,
I always awake with a hymn in my head, every morning. This morning the hymn was "How Great Thou Art". But I almost began this entry by calling it "Then Sings My Soul", cuz the line that kept repeating in my mind was
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee...
I just wanted to point out that I think I've always misinterpreted the gist of this snippet. I think it's supposed to mean something like
Then my soul sings to Thee, O God of my salvation, the following chorus...
But it's my habit to think of the original phrase as if there is not a comma after "soul" but a colon, and another between “Savior” and "God"—“Then sings my soul: my Savior: God, to thee”—so that it would mean
Then my soul, which is God (my Savior), sings like so...
I like better to think of my soul as divine herself, rather than render her a sycophant of some invincible taskmaster.
But then the question becomes, If our soul is God, then who is the "thee" she serenades? Who is the intended recipient of our praise "How great thou art"?
My answer is Endlessness: the Everlasting, of which we are all a part. What the kabbalists call EIN SOF. That which is not that but which is all that. Everything and Nothing. The ur-holy Life-Death.
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal:
neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
That’s from the song that ends Deuteronomy chapter 32. Here let me quote a little more of the context, cuz I like this part:
Where are their gods,
their rock in whom they trusted,
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices,
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?Let THEM rise up and help you,
and be your protection.See now that I, even I, am he,
and there is no god with me:
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal:
neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
I like this part cuz Yahweh the speaker is pissed as a jealous lover. “Where are these other gods who you chose to worship instead of ME? Let those fake stupid assholes come and protect you. Ah, but now that evil has come upon you, you come crying to me, Yahweh, the only true god? Fuck off; now let’s wait and see if your false idols ever come to your rescue. I’m gonna watch you suffer.”
(Am I making God sound too harsh?)
Now, when you end the above excerpt where I cut it, with the line “neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand,” it sounds noble to me; however, add the next few verses and the Bad Yahweh reappears:
For I lift up my hand to heaven,
and say, “I live for ever!!!”
That’s not the bad part – it’s just funny to think of The Creator lifting his hand to heaven (cuz it implies our God has a superego). HERE’s the bad part...
If I whet my glittering sword,
and mine hand take hold on judgment;
I will render vengeance to mine enemies,
and will reward them that hate me.
And then the next verses are so terrifying that I only quote them so that this here blog can earn an “X” rating from The Motion Picture Production Code.
I will heap mischiefs upon them;
I will spend mine arrows upon them.
They shall be burnt with hunger,
and devoured with burning heat,
and with bitter destruction:
I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them,
with the poison of serpents of the dust.
The sword without, and terror within,
shall destroy both the young man and the virgin,
the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword shall devour flesh;
and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives,
from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
I’m copying the King James version of the text (I also placed verses 23-25 before 42, because, finding myself back in the editing room, I could not resist). Now that last line sounds a little awkward to me: “from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.” I think it’s one of those verses that’s hard to translate. The New Revised Standard Version renders the last lines as “with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired enemy.” And the Jewish Publication Society gives it as “From the long-haired enemy chiefs.”
My point is that it’s very violent and immature: for vengeance should belong to Man alone.
But (you ask) isn’t Yahweh both 100% God and 100% Man? Didn't he deign to put on the flesh of mankind when he entered this world, via the Book of Exodus (15:3) 'The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name'? Therefore when Saint Paul writes in his letter to the Romans (12:19) 'Dear brothers, never avenge yourselves or seek revenge, not even after events like 9/11; but just relax, take a chill pill, give place unto wrath; for it is written:
"Vengeance is mine, I myself will repay wrongdoings, says the LORD."'
And, at the end there, isn't Saint Paul quoting the very song that you were just speaking of, from Deuteronomy (ch. 32)? For verses 35-36 clearly declare 'To me ALONE belongeth vengeance & recompence! ONLY God shall judge his people!' Yahweh is practically screaming here, is he not? His voice is so hoarse; I worry about his health...
& I interrupt you to answer: Yes, you're correct. But, when the LORD says stuff like 'I will make mine arrows drunk with blood (etc.),' he should know that this type of rhetoric fires up the wrong type of humans. If he really loves his people, he’d stop baiting them as if for a cockfight. That’s cruelty to animals.
But let's leave this diversion & return to a shallower diversion:
Earlier I mentioned our U.S. Movie Code, which famously gave the Christian Bible a rating of “X”. In this case, “X” does not stand for “Jesus” (as in, “Put the X back in Xmas”), no, it is meant to indicate that the artwork “contains excessive violence or explicit sexuality.” In the case of the Bible, it offers both in spades. (The Christian Bible is basically porn for miscreants, which is why I peruse it.) Now, regarding the creation of that aforesaid Film Production Code, here’s a quote from Wikipedia — I share it only because I find it slightly rum:
In 1929, a Catholic layman, Martin Quigley (editor of the prominent trade paper Motion Picture Herald) and the Jesuit priest Father Daniel A. Lord created a code of standards and submitted it to the movie studios. Lord was particularly concerned with the effects of sound film on children, whom he considered especially susceptible to their allure.
I myself am particularly susceptible to the allure of Yahweh whetting his glittering sword. That’s why I wish they would censor that part from the above scripture. Simply pixelate it; we’ll get the idea.
OK; but let’s get back to the original topic, the hymn “How Great Thou Art”, because I hadn’t finished talking about it when you interrupted me; and that’s the whole reason I called this World-Rulers Meeting. Here’s a quote from Wikipedia:
“How Great Thou Art” is a Christian hymn based on a Swedish traditional melody and a poem written by Carl Boberg (1859–1940) in Mönsterås, Sweden in 1885.
So our ingredients so far are (1) a traditional Swedish melody and (2) a Swedish poem. OK, now comes the fun part:
It was translated into German and then into Russian. It was translated into English from the Russian by an English missionary, who also added two original verses of his own.
This is what I like about hymns. They’re a communal effort. Like movies. Multiple chefs produce the feast. Everyone is allowed to contribute. Or rather: no one can stop you from adding your own verses to the accumulation.
I also like that hymns are simple.
Contrariwise (you say), not ALL hymns are simple.
I take your point. What I meant to say is that there should be a law declaring that all hymns must remain non-complex; and this article of legislation should be enforceable upon punishment of death.
CONCLUSION
I’m only writing this present discourse for one reason: to waste time before breakfast. Since I still have a few minutes left, let me copy the verses of the hymn in question, so that we can read them together. Since we already read the end of Moses’ song from Deuteronomy, why not continue our reading? (It takes a special kind of writer to beguile her readership to read while already reading.) I’ll translate the song from English into English – here’s Verse Number One:
[Traditional lyrics:]
O Lord my God, when I, in awesome wonder,
Consider all the works Thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder:
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
[My translation:]
Dear God, when I consider all the things that you’ve invented, I feel amazed. Especially the stars and the thunder. These items prove that you are the best magician in our galaxy, and…
[Now comes the chorus – first, the traditional wording:]
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
[My translation:]
So I say: “Wow, you’re great.” [repeat ad nauseam]
That’s it. First verse is in the can. Now on to the second:
[Traditional lyrics:]
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:
Then sings my soul… (etc.)
[My translation:]
When I wander thru the woods and hear the birds singing, or when I look down from a tall hill and hear the creek trickling in front of my grandma’s old house, I can’t help but allow myself to sing out praises to you, God: seriously, “Wow, you’re great!”
Now I’ll tackle the verses that were added by that pesky missionary Stuart K. Hine. Here’s the third, an intrusion upon the original:
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin...
[Translation by me Bryan:]
Whenever I reflect upon the fact that God chose not to spare his only begotten Son’s life but actually sent Him to DIE on the cross (which is an instrument of torture), I barely can stomach the thot: O! When I consider poor Jesus hanging there, GLADLY bearing the burden of my exuberance, bleeding in agony, all because this is the ONLY way that the priests would let God forgive mankind for surpassing their genius, it makes my soul sing out in praise of this Holy Tyrant: “Wow you are great!”
OK and here’s the 4th addition — again, courtesy of the creative mind of the English missionary S.K. Hine:
[Traditional lyrics:]
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart:
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim: My God! how great Thou art!
[My translation:]
When Christ shall come shrieking back to Earth, to grab me by the lapels and fly me away, almost blocking my breath with his firm grip & then tossing me onto a pile of saints in heaven; my heart will overflow with fear, and I will bow and worship You, O most brutal of dictators, my dear God—I howl one last time: “Wow you’re great.”
P.S.
Sorry about being so sarcastic here. I normally try to avoid that type of thing — I think our current U.S. culture is too sarcastic already; I don’t need to add to it. Plus there’s a lot of atheists out there making fun of God and religion, and I’d rather not join them in their folly, even tho I believe that they’re right & I totally agree with them. The only reason I permit my soul to bellow out its criticism is that I fear the Christian “faith” has a good chance of becoming some sort of new naziism, because not enough people dare to engage it. I’ve said it a zillion times now, and I’ll never tire of repeating it: I love Jesus but I hate the Official Church. I also love every individual believer: they know not what they do, that’s why I died for their sins. (Did I not expire at the hands of Rome, when their F.B.I. tossed tear gas canisters into my Texas commune and the world caught fire?)
No comments:
Post a Comment