God Departs in 'Never Alone'

Quite a few people have been concerned about this.  Some considerably so.  Let me clear it up.

Hi ****,

Thanks for singing our song.  I hope it worked okay with your congregation.

Others have also questioned what that line means.  I think it is most clearly understood if you consider it with the previous words:

'A creeping dread in every heart,
Lost in the world, now God departs."


When I wrote these lines, I had Luke 23:48 in my mind. 


 Luke 23:46-48
⁴⁶Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
 ⁴⁷The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." ⁴⁸When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.
 
The word 'lost' does not refer to Jesus but to us. Humanity. In crucifying the Son of God we were putting ourselves in a very lonely position.  We were trying to remove God (in Jesus) from the world.  And, in a very real way, we succeeded.  God was with us in the world and we caused his departure (not ultimately, of course).  The people standing around realized something of what they had done and beat their breasts. 


These lines were not meant as a comment on God abandoning Jesus or anything like that.  I simply meant that one moment God was physically with us in the world, and the next moment, he wasn't.


Is that okay?


Thanks for asking.  It's good to know that you are thinking about the words that you are singing.


In Christ,


Simone