Christ Above Me -- John Chisum and George Searcy

 

Do you think they might have looked at this depiction of Patrick (painted by an anonymous artist), when they were drawing inspiration for what they were putting into music in 1999? John Chisum and George Searcy were some 15 or 16 centuries beyond the time when the Christian missionary known as Saint Patrick was in Ireland, so why reach back so far for what he had to say? Could it be that either John or George, or maybe both of them, recognized something in the background of Patrick’s prayer-poem (known as Saint Patrick’s Breastplate) that sounded familiar to their 20^th Century experience? A prayer for protection, and a willingness to surrender to a higher power when in trouble, goes back even further than Patrick’s era. So, it’s fair to say that John and George were also thinking biblically, and that the root of their hope lay there, as did the Irish saint’s whose poetry they thought was compelling. Even moderns, advanced as we oftentimes think of ourselves, need Him to be present, as Patrick evidently did, when we pursue something daunting like mission work. Is anything more difficult than that?

 

It's said that the patron saint of Ireland, Patrick, was feeling that he was in danger in the 5^th Century as he strove to spread the news about Christ, and that prayer (or “lorica”) was his response to this trouble. (Other historians attribute this prayer alternatively to someone in the 8^th Century, three centuries after Patrick.) Patrick’s nemesis was Loegaire, a pagan king who would be unrelenting in his hostility to the saint’s objective. And yet, Patrick, not unlike the young David who dodged King Saul’s attempts on his life on many occasions (1 Samuel 18 through 26), outwitted Loegaire, eventually convincing him to submit and accept God. That’s really something, when the pursued can turn the tables and convert the pursuer! The 11 stanzas of Patrick’s prayer stood out to the 20^th Century songwriters Chisum and Searcy, especially the eighth stanza, in which the writer calls out for Christ to be all around him. It also could not have escaped the attention of John and George, that six of eleven stanzas of Patrick’s poem begin with the words (translated into English) ‘I bind to myself today’, and thus the idea that he sought the divine breastplate of the heavenly King as his shield. Implicit in this protective armor was the human part of him that would allow all that God is to assume control, a concept embodied in the one word ‘surrender’ that John and George incorporated into their own verses. Does it work today the same way that it did for Patrick?

 

What events were present for John and George, that would induce them to write their own prayer? Mission work is difficult today, even dangerous in some areas of this planet. So, it would not have been unusual for these two to seek out ancient words that spoke of a call to the Almighty, especially if the effect might be to radically change some missionary’s circumstances from danger to conversion, as it was for Patrick and his pagan adversary. Someone has said that every believer goes into the mission field daily, even if we’re all just going about a daily routine among others who speak our native tongue. There’re still those who don’t know Him -- in fact, are opposed to Him.  There’re other reasons to pray, too. So, are Patrick’s world and yours and mine all that different? Try out his formula, and see what you think of the results.

 

This site provides a clue about the song’s origin: https://globalworship.tumblr.com/post/141176544155/christ-above-me-choral-song-john-chisum

 

This site describes the poem which inspired the song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Breastplate

 

See this link for discussion of Saint Patrick’s enemy: Lóegaire mac Néill - Wikipedia

 

A biography of one of the authors is here: https://www.nashvillechristiansongwriters.com/john-chisum-and-the-ncs-story/

 

The site for the other author: https://www.georgesearcy.com/

Be Thou My Vision - Dallan Forgaill?

The classic hymn “Be Thou My Vision” has a theme based on sight. This song’s history likewise has a similar sentiment. The words may have been written by Dallan Forgaill, a Christian Irish poet who lived in the sixth century. It’s said that he studied so much that he lost his sight, so perhaps the song’s words were an actual physical request that he was making to God. His first name ‘Dallan’ was a nickname in his native tongue that means “little blind one”. The song’s tune is based on an 8th Century Irish folk melody, called Slane. Notice on perhaps any page printing this particular song that the word ‘Slane’ may be written somewhere, telling us that’s the tune which was adopted for use with the words in the hymn “Be Thou My Vision” in the Middle Ages. The story of Slane (perhaps a legend) involves St. Patrick and a confrontation he had with a pagan king in Ireland in the 5th Century. Patrick was a great Christian missionary to Ireland, whom you may have heard in folklore drove the snakes out of the country, and used a Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. The first Easter that Patrick was in Ireland, he wanted to celebrate the holiday by lighting an Easter fire on the hill of Slane, not far from High King Laoghaire’s castle. This drew the king’s ire (no pun intended), who was also intent upon celebrating a pagan holiday in the same fashion by lighting a fire in the castle. The Druid priests (a pre-Christian religious order in the Middle Ages) advising Laoghaire warned him Patrick’s fire must be quenched or it would never die out, and would in fact spread a foreign doctrine. Patrick is said to have escaped Laoghaire’s death sentence, and in fact history records that Patrick did a great deal to organize Christianity and overthrow paganism in Ireland. Notice the words in “Be Thou My Vision” seem to echo what Patrick stood for, and entreat us to do the same. He celebrated Christ in his life, exhibiting it for all to see - -like a fire on the hill of Slane – no matter what threats others around him used to try to silence him. Verses 3 and 4 of the hymn tell us the true High King is in heaven, and Patrick most certainly knew this also, refusing to bow to King Laoghaire in 5th Century Ireland. The priests in old Israel offered, even before they entered Canaan, sacrifices to God by fire. And God was a pillar of fire to lead the people out of the wilderness. Moses records in Exodus (13:22), “Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” Lord, when my own fire dies, I thank you that yours does not. May I be like Patrick, brave, with my vision lit by your presence. Information on the song was developed from an encyclopedia and two Wikipedia sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Thou_My_Vision http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dall%C3%A1n_Forgaill