Hi! It's me.
I know it's been a little while, but I've been busy you see. Very busy.
Not an excuse?
Okay, I'm sorry. My spirit has been truly willing, though. That's not an excuse, it's an...attempt at appeasement. (perhaps for me as much as for you :-)
Anyway, business ties in well with what I've been thinking about.
Framed in dark wood above my book-littered desk hangs the words to one of my favorite hymns. I'm sure you know it--Be Thou my vision.
I am convinced that the anonymous hymnwriter of this beautiful song of Irish origin possessed a focus I know much about in theory, but little in experience.
Somebody must have spent much time considering Christ. Setting every faculty of the mind on Christ, on things above, till the responsive heart had to cry out "You be my vision! Nothing else satisfies, fulfills, strengthens, or help, except the sight of You."
Observe the titles, the meaningful names the writer gives to his focus: Lord of my heart, Ruler of all, Bright Heavn's Son, High King of Heaven, Power of my power, Lord.
Note the personal element in all this Wonder is wished to be: my vision, my best thought, my light, my wisdom, my true word, my great Father, my battle-shield, my sword for the fight, my dignity, my delight, my soul's shelter, my high tower, mine inheritance, first in my heart, my treasure, heart of my own heart, my vision whatever befall.
Now that is someone taken with the sight of their heart's love, someone who has spent time considering who this God is to them. And I cringe, and wonder what personal names I could give in testimony to my relationship with God. Mostly lord? King of what little I give You? My rescuer when I've really botched it up again? The realization that I could go on and on burdens my heart.
The very first stanza pleads, "Naught be all else to me save that Thou art." That never made sense to me. I mean, I didn't understand what it meant.
And whereas I'd be tempted to launch off now on how many other people have blithely sang away in some "worship" service, mouthing precepts they didn't comprehend, let alone intend to follow, using God's name emptily and being filled with the warmth of familiarity and the emotional buzz beautiful melodies can evoke, I am keenly aware that I am the guilty party and that I haven't thought about the words I sing and I haven't even taken the effort to look at a hymn critically before I went to church, let alone while I was standing there singing.
So now my concern is that many of us are missing the meaning of this crucial phrase and that I'm failing to live it. I always knew the sense of the phrase from the song, but I could never clearly restate exactly what the poet was saying. (always a bad sign for true comprehension)
Please allow me a rather pedantic approach. Applying some principles from Greek and Hebrew, a good start is always "find the subject, find the verb."
Subject: All else
Verb: be
Ok, now we restate archaic words and their meanings.
Naught: nothing (in this context, a wish)
save: except
I think a little modern English translation might read something like this.
"May everything else except what You are be nothing to me."
What would I have have if I only had my Christ? What would I think I had? Would I be sure I had the greatest Treasure, that my best thoughts still remained, that I still had all the power I needed?
O God, be Thou my vision. I stand in need of you.
1.Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
2. Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
3. Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower.
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
4. Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
5. High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.