Paul Said In Our Time Of Childhood
Cosmic Mystery Series
Wisdom
Paul Said In Our Time Of Childhood
Tune: MANNHEIM 87.87.87
* Melody from a Chorale
by Friedrich Filitz 1804-1876
Adaptation attrib.
Lowell Mason, 1792-1872
- Paul said in our time of childhood *
We had childish ways of thought
But as adults we need changes
From the ways we once were taught
By our teachers, friends and fam’ly,
To the truths our spirits sought.
- Our first step lies in accepting
There are many forms of speech;
Some have truth placed on the surface,
Some beyond our surface reach.
In the mystery dwells the Spirit
Far beyond what texts can teach.
- Sometimes Jesus spoke quite plainly,
Sometimes symbols shaped his speech.
When he likened yeast to people
Some felt that’s no way to preach
But each symbol holds a feasting
On what logic cannot teach.
- How shall we access deep wisdom
That can measure all our thought?
By us watching all our thinking
And the ways that truth is sought.
Are these questions of a pilgrim
Or beliefs we each were taught?
- Every mind has its own chatter,
Sometimes shallow, sometimes deep,
But to access myst’ry’s wonder
We need silence we can keep,
Sometimes joyful, sometimes painful,
Sometimes complex, sometimes neat.
- God is wonder past all thinking;
Myst’ry that exceeds each word
Grows from knowing to unknowing,
Soaring like an un-caged bird.
Sacred love shall then enfold us
Weaving songs that pilgrims heard.
*(1 Corinthians 13/11)
Text © William Livingstone Wallace
Click Here for Sheet Music – Mannheim
Click Here for Full Index to William L. Wallace’s Series Hymns “Cosmic Mystery”
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William (Bill) Livingstone Wallace is a retired New Zealand Methodist Minister and one of our most prolific contributors. Bill says that his work springs from communicating with the fire in his gut and his observation of both the internal and external aspects of the Cosmos. Since an early age, he has been both sympathetic to and critical of the church, announcing at the age of 13 his belief in evolution. In his youth, he struggled with the disconnection between art and spirituality in his own and other denominations and with the way in which all of the liturgies prior to the sermon were regarded as preliminaries and longer sermons were viewed as superior to more concise ones.
He holds a B.A. in philosophy and a Dip. Ed. and is the author of nine published collections of his hymns as well as other resources on our website. His aim is to help people be empowered by the divine within them and the Cosmos and to work to overthrow the forces of personal and institutional greed which destroy both the ecosystem and human society.
Click Here for a Full Biography of William L. Wallace
Click here for a complete list of his work on ProgressiveChristianity.org