A Hymn to the Father
John Donne’s “A Hymn to the Father” was one of the first poems that I really came to appreciate. I think it’s because it names something that seems to permeate so much of the religious life – I’d say in our time and land, but apparently it was so in Donne’s time as well: fear. Our lives, even and maybe especially our faith lives, are permeated by fear – fear that we are not alright, fear that we are not acceptable, fear that we cannot be forgiven, fear that we’ve done things to make ourselves not just unacceptable but unlovable.
But maybe the only sin is fear, not being able to trust that God loves you, forgives you, accepts you, and sends you out into the world to live with hope, confidence, and courage. And that at the end, this same God will bring you home again and welcome you as a beloved child. That’s not what you hear in every Christian church, but I hope you hear it this Sunday wherever you may be. In the meantime, enjoy Donne’s hymn and prayer.
A Hymn to the Father
Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallow’d in, a score?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.
I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore;
And, having done that, thou hast done;
I fear no more.
John Donne
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