March 2024

“We get to carry each other” sung by Johnny Cash rings from the speakers of my computer as I sit down to write this. Johnny Cash reimagined U2’s song “One” at the urging of the music producer Rick Rubin. In the 1990’s, Cash’s career had stalled. His audiences dwindled. Rubin deeply believed in Cash’s creative powers. Over the next decade, Cash recorded a number of albums which included his reimagining a number of songs by other artists. “One” appeared on the third album. Listening to Cash’s version of the lyrics “We get to carry each other” sparks my passion again.

We have moved through Lent discussing Jesus’ work reimagining faith and how we can be with one another. As I read through the Gospels during Lent, the following teaching of Jesus boldly jumped out at me, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” It is like have never seen these words before. Like Johnny Cash’s recording of “One”, Jesus references the prophet Hosea, “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice.” Jesus brings these words back in his own fresh way. For some, Jesus is repeating what others have known for a long time. For others, because Jesus says these words, people hear them with open ears. And for new audiences, this is the first time they have heard these words. Jesus takes the material of Hosea and shares them in his own powerful way.