Christ, the way of life

The hymn I picked for 24th August (blogging briefly and a day late) was “Christ, the way of life, possess me” by Timothy Dudley-Smith. The words look at four ways we can understand Christ, with the word ‘life’ as the thread holding them together: He is the ‘Way of life’ to guide me; ‘Well of life’ to keep me afresh with his love; ‘Tree of life’ which in Biblical symbolism is ‘for the healing of the nations’, therefore Christ as healer; and ‘Path of life’ to the eternal life beyond this one.

The common theme of ‘life’ is important, as we remind ourselves in singing this that we believe Jesus Christ still to be alive, though no longer physically present in the body. It is what sets Christianity apart from other religions and philosophies, that the eternal divine and its chief prophet are in fact the same.