Jesus Loves Me

A few weeks ago, I was writing a choral setting of the Apostles' Creed as a commission for a church in Indiana. Just this last Tuesday, I was perusing the section of the Methodist hymnal where the statements of faith are listed (880-889 if you're keeping score). Creeds have been on my mind, and it's not my fault.

When I was growing up, we spoke the Apostles' Creed every week. Later, in the Episcopal Church, the Nicene Creed became part of my vocabulary. Sometimes, when I'm writing and/or compiling the liturgy for worship at First Methodist in Little Rock. I find myself wishing we weren't so pressed for time so that we could go back to those old expectations- where the Creed follows the sermon with ironclad regularity.

But then, we do share in a bold statement of faith weekly as we invite the children to come forward for their moment with our children’s minister. What is the song Jesus Loves Me if not the first great creed that we teach our children? Karl Barth famously summarized his theology with its words; it's certainly good enough for us.

I wrote this setting years ago, though it's only been published recently. The idea is that the accompanimental figure would evoke the image of a gently rocking cradle- a nod to the storied history of this hymn as being meant for the young. Of course, I wrote this piece before I had my own children. Before I realized that often, the gentle rocking back and forth is as soothing for the parent as the baby, both awake at 2AM and neither terribly happy about it.

Perhaps we need these words now more than ever. They are taught to children as a vehicle of comfort and reassurance; when the world is scary and confusing, we can rest in the knowledge that Jesus loves us- we know this because it says so in the Bible. And when we feel too weak to bring about the changes the world so desperately needs, we can all trust that he is strong.