Home Worship Planning History of Hymns The Faith We Sing Hymn Interpretation “I Am Your Mother” (“Earth Prayer”), Number 2059

The Faith We Sing Hymn Interpretation “I Am Your Mother” (“Earth Prayer”), Number 2059

"I Am Your Mother" ("Earth Prayer"), Number 2059
Words: Shirley Erena Murray
Music: Per Harling

Let us begin, as we have done with other hymns, with taking note of the author's careful use of capitalization within the text. The use of the lowercase "m" in "I am your mother" (in the first line) clearly indicates a poetic device, an image or a metaphor, rather than a name or a title. This use of "mother" should not be confused with any artificial or pagan Mother Earth deity that has no place in this text.

A second important use of capitalization may be seen in the subtitle "Earth Prayer." Since it is capitalized, "Earth Prayer" is to be understood as a secondary title of the text — a subtitle. It should not be confused with the "earth song" genre of music made popular in the late 1960s and 1970s when protesters and political movements rose up to champion the cause of environmental protection and preservation. Although these may have been worthy goals for "earth song" music, the genre name brings with it an unwarranted association of politics that is neither claimed by nor to be attributed to this hymn. "Earth Prayer" is nothing more than a subtitle, and it brings with it no political baggage. It is a prayer to God for the safety and protection of the earth.

The first three stanzas of the text use the poetic device of having the earth "speak" the words of this hymn, a device used in a number of other hymns. "The Friendly Beasts" (United Methodist Hymnal, No. 227), a favorite Christmas song from twelfth century France, uses the same device by giving speech to the animals that were present in the stable at Jesus' birth. Other songs have "rocks crying out" and "mountains and hills break[ing] forth before you into singing," while Isaac Watts makes "heaven and nature sing" in "Joy to the World." These are poetic devices, similar to that in "Earth Prayer," that are helpful in allowing us to give human voice to our hopes and fears through prayer and song.

There are other precedents for assigning familial relationships to the earth and creation. Consider Francis of Assisi's "All Creatures of Our God and King" (United Methodist Hymnal, No. 62), in which we find the following: brother sun, sister moon, brother wind, sister water, brother fire, and mother earth. By this device, the hymn confronts human arrogance that tends to abuse inanimate things and systems as disposable and expendable. In the context of worship, Christians who take the "dominion" passage of Genesis 1 (26) as warrant for exploitation are called to account by the other creatures and things God has made.

The final stanza of "I Am Your Mother" takes us out of the technique of poetic device when the singer declares that "God is our maker" and that we are not to challenge or defy God or to challenge God's place. We are to cherish life, according to the hymn. We must care or perish — all powerful and marvelous words for humans to affirm and carry out. The final stanza concludes by giving voice to the earth once again: "I am your mother, tears on my face." The hymn presents us with the image of our own human mother who is disappointed when we fail, who cries over our failings. We are to care for the earth as we might care for our own human mother. Nowhere in this hymn is there any reference to worshiping Mother Earth or an Earth Goddess. This is sacred poetry of a very high caliber, made accessible to worshipers in song, reminding us in vivid and compelling images to be good stewards of creation.

(Additional references and explanations about female imagery and language may be found in the introductory hymn interpretation, "On the Practice of Using Feminine Images and Language to Refer to God.")To comment on this article, contact Dean McIntyre at [email protected].

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