Short Songs for Worship in New Hymnbook

Earth Transformed with Music! Inclusive Songs for Worship includes multigenerational short songs for various part of worship services, such as invocations and benedictions. This special feature makes the collection easy to use in a variety of settings, from small groups to large congregations.

It’s been delightful to collaborate with composer Larry E. Schultz, who wrote new tunes for these short songs. Here is one of the fresh, lovely new tunes that Larry created for one of the songs in this collection, “Come, Sophia Wisdom, Come, along with the lyrics:

 

Come, Sophia Wisdom, come, live in our hearts;

come, Sophia Wisdom, come, peace to impart.

Heal us, bless us, stir us, and free us.

Come, Sophia Wisdom, come, live in our hearts.

 

Come, Sophia Wisdom, come live throughout earth;

come, Sophia Wisdom, come, bringing new birth.

Heal all, bless all, stir all, and free all.

Come, Sophia Wisdom, come, live throughout earth.

Words © 2014 Jann Aldredge-Clanton

This song is a prayer to Sophia to bring healing, peace, and freedom to all people and all creation.

The Bible links Sophia (Greek word for “Wisdom” in the Christian Scriptures) to Christ. The apostle Paul refers to Christ as the “power of God and the Wisdom (Sophia) of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), and states that Christ “became for us Wisdom (Sophia) from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). The book of Proverbs describes Wisdom as the “way,” the “life,” and the “path” (4:11, 22, 26). The Gospel of John records Jesus’ saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The Bible describes both Wisdom (Sophia) and Christ as having creative, redemptive, and healing power. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus identifies with Wisdom (Sophia): “the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet Wisdom (Sophia) is vindicated by her deeds” (Matthew 11:19). My book In Search of the Christ-Sophia: An Inclusive Christology for Liberating Christians gives a thorough explanation of the connection between Christ and Sophia (Wisdom) in Scripture and in Christian tradition.

Sophia and other biblical female images of the Divine hold great power to bring healing, justice, peace, and freedom. Even though Divine Wisdom (Hokmah in Hebrew, Sophia in Greek) is a prominent name for God in the Bible, She is ignored and excluded in most churches. Just as women have been excluded from leadership and still are in numerous churches, Divine Wisdom may be excluded from worship because the Bible presents Divine Wisdom as female and refers to Divine Wisdom as “She.” Also, people don’t always want to learn from Her and follow Her paths of peace and justice (Proverbs 1:20-13; Proverbs 3:13-18; 8:1-20). Divine Wisdom (Hokmah, Sophia) is among the many biblical female divine names and images.

Including these female images along with other biblical divine images to create gender-balanced worship will expand our spiritual experience and contribute to equality and justice in human relationships.

We can contribute to transforming our world through our prayers to Sophia and our songs that celebrate Her healing power.