My God and I – I.B. Sergei (Austria A. Wihtol)

He is anonymous, nearly.  But, we could gather from what this composer wrote that I.B. Sergei (evidently also known as Austria A. Wihtol) did not want to be unfamiliar, particularly in relation to the Creator. “My God and I” that he wrote in 1935 provides a picture of intimacy between two – though one is human and the other divine, they seem to be close companions. That the composer may have been influenced by the Orthodox Christian branch (see photo of 12^th Century painting representing that here) is an interesting possibility, considering the era in which the composer wrote this song – 1935. How far would someone go to express his-her faith, if for example he had remained in what later became a repressive state? How much inner strength would that take?

There’s not much that can be said about I.B. Sergei, other than the alternate name Austria (alternately, Austris) A. Wihtol, the year 1935, and the suggestion of his-her Latvian nationality (according to one source); another source (thank you for your comment on this blog entry Robert!) indicates the composer-concert pianist emigrated from Latvia to the U.S. in 1906-1909 as a teenager or perhaps a 20-year old, and lived and later died in 1974 in California . The words composed suggest the composer sought a close relationship with God, and found it. How difficult would that have been, if instead the writer-believer had been living in his native Latvia in the mid-1930s? The church’s persecution under the Stalinist regime in Russia would have made one’s open association with organized religion risky, perhaps even lethal, perhaps something he reflected upon in 1935. Latvia, though still independent in 1935, was not completely immune to its neighbor state’s manipulation – including the assassination of the archbishop of Riga in 1934. So, for Sergei, faith and trust in a higher being might have been nurtured in perhaps an anxious state, except for his decision to leave there earlier in the century. The peaceful scene painted in “My God and I”, of walking in a meadow hand-in-hand, amid laughter and pleasant storytelling of creation’s birth, doesn’t sound like a believer cowering in fear.  Indeed, Sergei had emigrated to a much different land, experiencing deliverance and perhaps therefore thanking Him with “My God and I”, perhaps watching from afar the troubling scenes from his homeland.

I.B. Sergei may someday give us more details on how “My God and I” developed, but can we imagine some of them now? It sounds as though Sergei was walking a bit in Adam’s shoes before the sin of Satan invaded humankind. To walk and talk, to share with God, and believe that nothing could separate us nor shorten the time we’d have together in an ideal, beautiful creation. ‘Unendingly’, that’s how Sergei concludes this song-message. Can I think of a time when my earth ‘trifles’, as Sergei calls them, would seem inconsequential? What would it be like to have nothing but joy and relationship with the All-Powerful, someone who could deliver on any promise, and smile on me for being who He made me to be? That’s what Sergei imagined. Just imagine having this, no matter where you are. Just imagine.       

This site indicates the composer was Russian or Latvian: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=A0LEVjcebsZVvCkAMJsnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByNXM5bzY5BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--?qid=1006031608702&p=I.B.%20Sergei

Two sites describing the Orthodox Christian faith in Russia and Latvia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Church

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvian_Orthodox_Church