A new choral anthem and interpretation of "The Good Samaritan" text in Luke's Gospel. Music by Philip Biedenbender and text by me.
The Good Samaritan (1907)
By Paula Modersohn-Becker
Public Domain
I don't consider myself a poet, but I sometimes write poetically. As a preacher, that happens from time to time. A byproduct of the profession, I suppose.
The past autumn I was invited by Doug Koons, Executive Director of LutheranArts, (https://lutheranarts.org) to think poetically and partner with Philip Biedenbender to create a new choral piece. Philip is a crazy-talented composer and musician with roots in the Lutheran Church (https://www.philipbiedenbender.com). Doug saw potential in our collaboration. The vision, then, was to connect with Interim Augsburg Choir Director, Mark Sedio, and see what might develop. I am grateful for Doug who saw potential in this collaborative enterprise. For out of this collaborative experience, "Behold the Neighbor" was created: the text written by me; the music composed by Philip; the piece directed by Mark and performed by the Augsburg Choir.
On Sunday, April 22, the Augsburg Choir debuted "Behold the Neighbor" during their home concert in the Hoversten Chapel on the Augsburg University campus in Minneapolis. This concert was the beginning of their spring tour which can be viewed here (http://www.augsburg.edu/music/ensembles/tours/choir/). The whole concert was exquisite with diverse pieces, both sacred and non-sacred. The concert was a joy to experience, a testament to Mark's excellence in directing as well as to the hard work by the Augsburg Choir members.
Here is the text I wrote for this piece the choir debuted:
Behold the Neighbor
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.” (Luke 10:23)
Behold, the holy vision cast by Jesus,
of heart and soul, of strength and mind.
the call,
the charge,
the command:
God-lovers.
Only if glimpsed through other-ed eyes.
Who do you see, Samaritan,
left beside the road, bleeding our own deep wound?
Behold, Christ in strange attire:
trampled spirit and body-broken, gasping for life.
This ditch a chasm widened by fear.
Behold, our call to be neighbor.
Behold, our charge to show mercy.
Behold, our command to love likewise.
Traverse the road; O heart be opened.
See the stranger; O soul be woken.
Bridge the chasm; O strength be renewed.
Touch the outcast; O mind be transformed.
Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
Who do you see?
Blessed are your neighborly eyes.
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As part of the program materials for the Augsburg Choir tour, Philip and I wrote pieces to describe our creative process. My words are reprinted below, but you can read Philip's here:
http://files.constantcontact.com/6b126e48001/a8f83f9e-6fb0-4a33-a339-64d326f0850c.pdf.
These are my thoughts on the text, "Behold the Neighbor," a poetic interpretation of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. If there is ever a recording or Youtube video of the Augsburg Choir singing it available to the public, I will be sure to post it! The text really does soar with Philip's amazing composition. But here is what led me to write this text:
The story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 is a biblical treasure, well-known and beloved. However, familiarity with a text can lead to assumptions that do not exist. In this story, a lawyer asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" The question evokes this treasured parable where the Good Samaritan helps the man stripped, robbed, beaten, and left for dead in a ditch. My own familiarity of the text (and countless interpretations I had heard over the years) instinctively and lazily answered the lawyer’s question, 'The man in the ditch is my neighbor.' And though this is true, it is not what Jesus is foremost asserting in this story. It turns out, the Good Samaritan "was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers” (36). The call, the charge, the command by Jesus is to be neighbor.
"Behold the Neighbor!” is my effort to help us (me!) see anew the neighbors around us and, ultimately, to see that we are neighbors. In this text, I reach back to Luke 10:23 as the interpretative lens for the parable where Jesus stated to the disciples, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!” See what you? What do your eyes see when you engage the Good Samaritan story? Behold, our holy vision. Behold, the Christ. Behold—neighbor!
This, I believe, is our calling from Jesus—to be the neighbor. To love the neighbor with heart and soul, with strength and mind, is to be the neighbor to one another through the love of Christ. And I believe Augsburg University’s commitment to vocational discovery is really a way for us as a Lutheran institution to foster and empower all people to be neighbors serving in love. This text was written in part to reflect and expand Augsburg’s mission to cultivate servant-neighbors in the world. It wasn’t until Philip Biedenbender put music to this passage that the text truly soared. His work is simply stunning! I am grateful for Philip’s remarkable creative energy and deeply faithful attention to the word of Jesus. He captured the essence of the text opening us to Christ’s command to love likewise. And finally, my deep gratitude to Mark Sedio for enthusiastically embracing this project and enabling the Augsburg Choir to translate the Good Samaritan parable through neighborly eyes…and ears and heart and soul and strength and mind."
Blessed are your neighborly eyes.