Climbing Jacob's Ladder
Longing for More - St. Johns Harbour |
We are climbing Jacob’s Ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s Ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s Ladder
Soldiers of the Cross.
Every rung goes higher higher
Every rung goes higher higher
Every rung goes higher higher
Soldiers of the Cross
Sinner do you love my Jesus
Sinner do you love my Jesus
Sinner do you love my Jesus
Soldiers
of the Cross
(Add
verses as they occur to you.)
We
used to sing this chorus although with no idea what Jacob’s
Ladder
actually referred to, where this ditty came from or what loving Jesus
could possibly have to do with ladder climbing. In short—I read
now—it’s a slave spiritual likely far more significant for its
“singability,” its “lilt” than for its message, which
was probably related to hardship and the hope for a better life in
Christ, symbolized by climbing out of this earthly abyss toward
heaven. “Image appropriation,” I’d say.
A
nice choral performance of it is at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcW3U9ljdP0
So
I’m looking forward to this morning at Eigenheim Mennonite where
Ken will focus on Jacob’s dreams in Genesis, hopefully beyond the
simplistic interpretation that you’re bound to have bizarre
nightmares if, while in a panic about the intentions of your perverse
brother, Esau, you sleep outside with a rock for a pillow!
And
then there’s Led Zeppelin’s Stairway
to Heaven . . ..
And
then there’s the wrestling all night with a god/man who throws out
your hip . . ..
Genesis
28: 10-22; Genesis 32: 22-31
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