Amazing Grace—The Remix!

Series: Diary of A Divinity Student (Entry #1)

My decision to study to get my Master’s of Divinity, has undoubtedly altered the way I conceptualize God, understand the role(s) of the church, and quite frankly, critique what goes on within its bounds.  As a lover of language, I have always paid very close attention to words.  Church services are full of words.  In fact, as a little girl, I remember being fascinated by the adept alliteration, overall enthusiasm, and distinct “holler” of the preacher in the pulpit.  What was even more fascinating, was being a part of that sacred moment in time, for what seemed to be the most anticipated moment in the service, when the preacher spoke a word of encouragement to a congregation full of people with everyday burdens and struggles.  One that seemed so timely.  One that seemed to make folks leave the building with straighter backs than when they came in. 

After a class in Pastoral Care, where the professor used James Baldwin’s Go Tell It On the Mountain as a primary source for a case study of the Black Church, I began to realize the influence that words, and/or oral tradition (especially through song), have had on me as a participatory singer in the worship service.  A few Sundays ago, the choir sang Amazing Grace.  Even though I knew the song, for the first time, I could not bring myself to repeat the words.  I sat there.  Meanwhile, others sang…

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.

After church, I did some research.  I started with the word wretch, because I was convinced that this one word was the primary reason I could no longer sing the popular hymn. 

A wretch is defined (www.dictionary.com) as:

1.     a deplorably unfortunate or unhappy person.

2.     a person of despicable or base character.

Why in the world would we sing THAT?!  I used to sing those lyrics all the time, without ever really thinking about the implications of the words.  Originally, the song was about John Newton, a self-identified Christian-slave-owner who, in his old age, had some kind of revelation/conversion experience and became an abolitionist.  Newton referred to himself as a WRETCH because he was disgusted with his own actions.  I do not think that he intended for the song to serve as the core of Christian doctrine/the lenses through which many Christians view themselves (total depravity).  If we say/sing something about ourselves enough, will we not begin to believe it?  We are not innately despicable.  I submit that after  this class I am thinking differently about many things, but ESPECIALLY about the words I sing/profess!

If I may edit the words of the song as not to encourage/perpetuate self-denigrating language, I would write (remix) it this way:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved someone like me.

I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.