Common Ground Song 81 ‘Loving Spirit’
Words: Shirley Erena Murray / Music: David Dell © Hope Publishing Co.
YouTube recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDDiUSyctPU
Featured image: Parents with their baby. From mamazing.com (original copyrightunknown)

This is an interesting one. The theme of this song from New Zealand is, seemingly, the love of God. But the theology is not quite that of the Trinitarian mainstream churches. Let’s start with the positives: God is here compared to a father who protects and teaches us (totally uncontroversial), and I like the image of him hoisting us on his shoulders so we can see things more clearly.

God is also addressed as a mother from whose flesh and bone we are formed, and who feeds us from her own body. That would be controversial in some Christian circles where feminine imagery of God is regarded with suspicion, but not in others. After all, Genesis tells us we are made in God’s image, and Eve was said to be formed from one of Adam’s bones. Jesus used mothering imagery of God, and as for being fed from God’s body, well, that is the Eucharist/Communion as practised by most churches.

In the first and last verses (the last is simply a repeat of the first), the Spirit is invoked as the one who chooses us, draws us to his/herself (no gender specific language is used here) and sets their sign on us. That last phrase seems to echo the line in the Song of Songs, ‘set me as a seal upon your heart’. Paul uses similar imagery in his letters to the Corinthians and Ephesians.

What is lacking, though, is any reference to the second person of the Trinity (Jesus, Christ, Word, Saviour, or any other of his titles). It is this that I find awkward.  And in fact, the name of God or Lord is also lacking anywhere in the lyrics. I assume that the author meant God when addressing someone as ‘Mother, Father and Spirit’ – but her conception of God may well be somewhat different from that of most Christians. And finally, in verse 4, the person being addressed is ‘friend and lover’. Jesus certainly invited his followers to address God as ‘Father’ using the family word ‘Abba’ rather than anything more formal. But the intimacy of the ‘lover’ is an analogy that, again, many Christians would say is going too far in understanding our relationship with the ineffable, infinite Creator.

In summary, then, I would not choose to use this hymn in a public service in a mainstream church, for theological reasons. But some people may find it helpful in private devotion.

Once again, I was unable to find on YouTube a performance of this song with the same tune by David Dell as used in the Common Ground book. There seem to be several more popular alternatives, of which  V. Earle Copes’ melody is the most performed, and that is linked above. As for David Dell’s melody, it can be heard (without the words) here.