JERUSALEM
“And did those feet in ancient time
walk upon England’s mountains green?” No, they did not. “And was the holy Lamb
of God on England’s pleasant pastures seen?” Again the answer’s “No”. The feet
in the first line belong to Jesus. The Lamb of God is another way of describing
Jesus. “And did the countenance divine shine forth upon those clouded hills?” Countenance
is a long word which means face … and still the answer’s “No”. “And was
Jerusalem builded here amongst those dark satanic mills?” The answer’s
obviously no. The geography is all wrong. Jerusalem lies at the far end of the
Mediterranean Sea, some 2 ½ thousand miles from the cotton mills in northern
England where people worked in virtual slavery.
“Bring me my bow of burning gold.”
Well what’s this verse about? There’s lots of powerful fighting imagery. Then
we get “I will not cease from mental fight, … till we have built Jerusalem”. How can you build Jerusalem in England? It’s
nonsense. And that’s one of the reasons why this hymn is banned in a number of
churches. Some people say that this hymn tries to claim that England is the
correct place for the holy city. Some say it spreads a lie, that somehow Jesus
came to England. Some say the fighting talk and building Jerusalem in England
is about stealing part of history and putting it where it doesn’t belong – a
bit like the Elgin Marbles.
To find meaning we have to dig
deeper. The words were written by William Blake, early in the 19th
century. He is described as a mystic – most people cannot understand his poems,
but I think there is a clue in the title, Jerusalem. Now the “Jeru” part means “city”.
The “salem” part means peace. Jerusalem means City of Peace. Many of you may be
familiar with the Muslim greeting “Salaam alaikum” – peace be with you. Indeed,
the “slam” bit in the word Islam is a contraction of salem, meaning peace. The
Hebrew version is similar; the word used is “shalom”. So Jerusalem is the City
of Peace.
William Blake asks a question. What
if Jesus came to England? What would he see? What would he say? What would he
do? In our national life we have a minster of our government who has claimed
many thousands of pounds more than she should in expenses while her own party
denounces benefits cheats. We live in one of the richest countries in the
world, yet 3 million people in this country are so poor that they need food
from foodbanks. I think Jesus would notice.
And what if Jesus came to
Wolverhampton? What if Jesus came to our school? What if Jesus came to our
lessons? Would he be pleased? What if Jesus came to our homes? What might he
see? What might he say? What might he do to put things right? And we are moving
towards a Christian understanding of Jesus; what if Jesus could be inside my
thinking, my seeing, my speaking?
Jesus is highly regarded by all
world religions. He challenges us whatever our religious background, even if we
claim to have none. In this poem, William Blake asks us to build peace. And
couldn’t we all do with more peace in our lives, a bit less stress, fewer arguments,
less rushing? Peace between parents and children; peace between teachers and
students; peace between brothers and sisters; peace between classmates and
friends.
This is one message in the events
marked and remembered at Easter. It’s about reconciliation, the putting right
of relationships. It’s about hope, new life, from egg to chicken. It’s about
the possibility of transformation, of change for the better. And that’s a
message we can all agree on, those of any religion and those with none. Let’s
build peace here in WGS. Together we promise to fight to make it happen here in
England, here in Wolverhampton, here in this school. So now we are going to sing
and celebrate this message of Peace.
Let’s stand.
No comments:
Post a Comment