In 1848, a Shaker elder named Joseph Brackett wrote an easy-to-learn-and-sing tune for his community called “Simple Gifts.” We all know it today because it has made its way into American (and Irish) culture, interpreted and recorded often by folksingers, church and school choirs, and even symphony orchestras. It evolved to become the Christian folk song, “The Lord of the Dance.” The composer Aaron Copland incorporated its melody into his masterpiece, “Appalachian Spring.” The hit Irish dance review, “The Lord of the Dance,” reinterpreted the simple melody and took it as its theme. It has ended up on television commercials. It’s a beautiful song with a long and complex history.
But at its heart, it’s just a simple song extolling the virtues of a simple life:
‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we will not be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
At a recent meeting of my small faith group, we listened to this song, as beautifully and simply recorded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and folksinger Alison Krauss. There’s a video embedded at the end of this post so you can hear it for yourself.
The thought and prayer that emerged from deep within as I listened was just how important it is to be “in the place just right….in a place of love and delight.” We live in one of the most complex and complicated times imaginable. Complexity can be good in many aspects of our lives. Legal documents are long for a reason. A good novel or song can speak to us on many levels. Interpreting the complexities of faith and religion is the work of theologians, pastors, writers and thinkers.
So while I’m not downplaying the intricacies of the modern world, I am wondering this morning if there is still a place for simplicity – for the simple gift of faith in a God who is love. Here in my 64th year, I am feeling a need and a call to a simpler faith, and by that I do not mean a different faith or a change of faith but rather a simpler and more focused spirituality that allows me to be more fully drawn into this God who is love. I am feeling a need to be content and at peace with that simplicity and leave the complexities to others so inclined. I want to bow toward that simplicity and embrace it more fully, to allow it to truly be my delight. As I enter these latter years, I want and need that faith to encircle me so that wherever I turn, I am forever in its gentle grasp.
Where is this simplicity to be found? I find it in the beauty of the world around me, this ever-evolving gift given to us by a Creator-God. I find it in the Word of God as handed down to us in the Holy Scriptures and in the person of Jesus. I find it in the gathered community that is my Catholic community on a Sunday morning but also in a small group of friends gathered around a kitchen table.
For if we can’t find God in these simple moments and in these great simple gifts, how are we ever going to find God in the complexities of theology and church teaching? We need both. We are called to behold, as Meister Eckart once wrote, “something great, something marvelous, something rare.”
As Christians, we have already received something rare, marvelous and great. We have been given the ability to encounter the Christ — in scripture, in the Eucharist, and in each other. Our job while we’re here is pretty simple. We need to allow ourselves to be surrounded by it all, astounded by it all, encompassed by it all. Simply that.
