Hello Jesus, My Old Friend …
January 27, 2012
I remember the days when I used to sing in coffee houses (some of you won’t know what those are) with a singing group called “The King’s Children”. We sang mostly Christian songs but among the secular songs we sang was the Simon and Garfunkel hit “The Sounds of Silence” that began: “Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again …”
Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
“Fools”, said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls” And whispered in the sounds of silence
In retrospect, I have not even a clue as to why our Gospel singing group was singing that song. I remember one of our crew getting up and standing on a chair with a flashlight over my head as we sang …”beneath the halo of a street lamp ….”
In any event, now nearly four decades later I still like to listen to that music, but I SING a different song. I was reminded of it this morning as Linda and I shared in our devotions:
And a light shined in my cell,
And there was not any wall,
And there was no dark at all,
Only THOU, Emmanuel.
Light of love shined in my cell,
Turned to gold the iron bars,
Opened windows to the stars,
Peace stood there as a sentinel.
Dearest Lord, how can it be
That Thou art so kind to me?
Love is shining in my cell,
Jesus, my Emmanuel
— A.W.C.
I think I remember a Simon and Garfunkel record single (some of you won’t know what that is either 🙂 ) of this song with “We’ve Got a Groovy Thing Going” on the B side. As one who became “of age” in the sixties and seventies, I might be inclined to say that I’ve got a pretty groovy thing going with my Savior … the LIGHT of the World! 🙂
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