There is a wonderful song from the Broadway play “Showboat,” it is called “Ol’ Man River.”  It is a beautiful song written in the African American Spiritual tradition.  It is a song about the Great Mississippi River but more so about hard life of the slaves along that Great River.  It is a song that could be sung about any river and the lives of people  along it.

I have always wondered about the title “Ol’ Man River!”  Is the Great River, is any river for that matter, an “Ol’ Man?”  I have often written about the Great Hudson River as a place of nurturing, of life-giving, of creation and of giving birth.  All attributes we often connect with motherhood.  I think even in one reflection a few years ago I called the Great River, the Great Mother! Is the Great River Mother or Father? What image fits it best?

Well, much to my surprise the answer came to me not too long ago.  I was paging through a book catalogue sent to me and I ran across a book of stories about wisdom and joy from the African traditions.  I am always interested in stories and because a very good friend of mine is a missionary in Africa and she is always talking about the wisdom spirit of the African people and how marvelous it is, I thought it might be a good book to have. 

One of the first stories I read when I got the book was about a priest who went into a barber shop in the town of Maswa in Tanzania.  He told the barber that he was flying back to the United States to visit his family.  The barber asked him about some of the topics that Americans talk about and even disagree on.  The priest mentioned the controversy over whether God should be called both Father and Mother, or Father only.

The barber commented: “That’s an easy question.  We are children of God.  To give birth to children you need a Father and a Mother.  So God has to be both!”

At first that comment might seem jarring even confrontational, perhaps even anger us but when you actually stop to think about it the barber is right.  As much as our tradition reminds us that God is Father, we cannot ignore the fact that we are God’s children and in order to be children we need to have a mother and a father.

Now please don’t get upset and angry with me. Don’t get the bonfire ready so you can burn me at the stake!  I am not suggesting that we change our 2,000 year old tradition or reconstruct our doctrinal teachings.  In the words of Jesus, God is Our Father!  However, what I am suggesting is that we also let God be God each and every day of our life. In other words, when we rise and encounter a new day, we remain open to the possibility of what God is and what God will be in our life that day.  On any given day God will be Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, Friend, Best Friend or the Mysterious Stranger, perhaps even the Great River, whom we come to with our troubled hearts and who blesses our way with a new Spirit of Hope and Life.

The singer, the man at prayer, in the song “Ol’ Man River” wants to get beyond the struggles of the life of a slave, a person of color in a white person’s world.  He wants to get beyond another Great River, the River Jordan.  He wants to get to heaven. He wants to get to God and a place of peace.  For this spiritual man, who is the voice of a communion of women and men, who have been burdened and troubled by a life of discrimination and slavery, there is one constant in this  life that enables him, them, to live the struggle, it is “Ol’ Man River,” it is God!  His heart is troubled.  He is weary, sick of trying, tired of living, scared of dying, yet Ol’ Man river is always there, rollin’ along.  God is always there rollin’ along taking the troubles from his heart and I would add inviting him to live life with Passion!

It is the same for us too, no matter what image God is for us at any given moment, God is the constant.  Sometimes God protects, is the strong and stabilizing force, “the Rock,” the Compassionate Father in our life, who loves us in that silent but strong way.

At other moments God, nurtures, feeds, gives birth, teaches, feels , creates, imparts wisdom, remembers, celebrates and loves us with all the passionate emotion of a Great Mother.

In still other moments God becomes the ever Loyal Friend, who stands by us or the Everlasting Best Friend, on whom we lean or the Mysterious Stranger who challenges us to see the good and the grace in ourselves and others.

No matter how we encounter God each day the constant is that God is always there, like Ol’ Man River, rollin’ along.

Perhaps a bit of wisdom for our summer journey is to remember that there is no wrong image for God, only the images God wishes to reveal to us that we might live our lives with faith, hope and love through the ever present Passion of God!

This summer from my little place of prayer and peace up on the roof I look forward to watching the Great River keep rollin’ along and hoping for the gift of God’s Passionate Love alive in all of our lives!  Summer blessings...

You are in my prayers…

Peace in Christ’s Passion ,

Fr. Paul

New Sacred River Musings

 

“Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled...”

To Contact Me:

Email: Preachermancp@cs.com