Today’s hymn in our Pentecost series from Sing Praise is “Like the murmur of the dove’s song” by Carl P Daw Jr. As with most other hymns about (or in this case, addressed to) the Holy Spirit, it tries to cover many aspects of the nature and gifts of the Spirit.
The words of the hymn are carefully structured: three verses, in each of which the first four lines begin with the same word, and then the fifth line of each verse is the same invocation, “Come, Holy Spirit, come”.
The common word of verse one is “Like”: Like the murmur of the dove’s song, like the challenge of her flight, like the vigour of the wind’s rush, like the new flame’s eager might”. Once again we see the contrast between the gentle murmuring bird, and the power of wind and flame. When we ask the Spirit to come, we don’t know which of these aspects will be present.
Verse two is about movement towards us: “To the members of Christ’s body, to the branches of the vine, to the Church in faith assembled, to her midst as gift and sign”. In other words, we ask the Spirit to come to us individually, to our congregations (branches) and to the whole Church. From the private room to the world stage, the Spirit is called to be present.
Verse three is about the Spirit’s particular gifts and fruits: “with the healing of division, with the ceaseless voice of prayer, with the power to love and witness, with the peace beyond compare”. The Spirit enables what would otherwise not be possible, whether seemingly intractable divisions in society or the peace that always seems beyond reach. Whenever we pray for some situation that seems hopeless, our refrain must be “come, Holy Spirit, come”.
Having come across some of Carl Daw Jr’s hymns, I confess I was disappointed by the way this one opens. Maybe it’s because woodpigeons nest very close to my bedroom and I hear their calls in the early hours of spring mornings – but I feel convinced that the biblical imagery of the Spirit being “like a dove” doesn’t extend to meaning he makes a noise like a pigeon! And having a false image planted in my mind leads to other questions. Is the dove’s flight “challenging”? – not as much as a kestrel’s! Does a new flame have “eager might”? – not if it’s like the matches which I use to try to light candles, which have a distressing habit of flaring and dying immediately!
Having started discontented, I suppose I remained so. I wish the Holy Spirit had been invited TO those who are not yet members of Christ’s body. I wish we could wrestle with the real causes of division in the church, and diagnose and find remedies, instead of simply asking for more of the Spirit’s presence to heal them. Yes, come, Holy Spirit, but not only in the ways listed here.