Water into Wine. I was driving, and the words came into my mind, You turned water into wine, my lord . . .
Water into Wine. I was driving, and the words came into my mind, You turned water into wine, my lord . . . Here are the words. They came with a melody. That was in 2017. But I have a hard time carrying a tune. 3 years later, a friend recorded the piece. There’s a link to the video at the end.
You turned water into wine, my lord,
water into wine.
And that sure is a sign, my lord,
that you are divine.
I raise my cup to thine, my lord,
divine friend of mine,
a cup of that water
you turned into wine.
You gave a blind man his sight, my lord,
brought a dead man back to life.
And that sure is a sign, my lord,
that you are divine.
I raise my cup to thine, my lord,
divine friend of mine.
a cup of that water
you turned into wine.
You said leave that woman alone,
let the perfect cast the first stone.
And that sure is a sign, my lord,
your forgiveness is divine.
I raise my cup to thine, my lord,
divine friend of mine.
a cup of that water
you turned into wine.
You gave your life for me, my lord.
From our sins you set us free.
And that sure is a sign, my lord,
that you are divine,
and your forgiveness is divine.
You turned water into wine, my lord,
water into wine.
And that sure is a sign, my lord,
that you are divine.
I raise my cup to thine, my lord,
divine friend of mine,
a cup of that water
you turned into wine.
Elsa
March 4, 2017
Here’s a link to the song. Thank you to Deborah for recording it:
https://elsasemporium.com/water-into-wine.html
It’s almost Christmas. And Hannukah has started. In another day it will be the winter solstice, the turning from the days getting even shorter, to the days slowly lengthening even as winter is only just settling in. Wednesday, December 21, 2022, at 4:48 P.M. EST. (I’ve just checked.)
And this song came to mind.
What’s my own “inner sense” around religion and spirituality? My words: I feel a kind of cosmic connection, a felt recognition of there being much more than the everyday world. I care about ethics, care.
All the best to all good caring people who do what we can,
Elsa
PS. SOMETHING EXTRA! Invitation to a candle lighting on the winter solstice - 4:30 pm Wednesday. Here is the link:
PPS. About sparks for the song. I’ve often heard about connections between Christianity, Judaism and Islam. One spark for the song was my awareness of a number of profound differences between Christianity and Islam. Such as that Jesus turned water into wine when the wine ran out at a wedding (and Islam is against alcohol). Such as that Jesus was a healer, including bringing someone back to life (unlike Mohammed, who was not a healer at all). Such as that Jesus forgave the woman who had transgressed sexually (while Mohammed condemned such a woman to death though she had begged for forgiveness for years). Such as that Jesus chose to die for the sins of humankind (while the Islamic version of Jesus did not - utterly gutting a core part of the story of Jesus). So Water into Wine is both a celebration of Jesus, and it highlights ways that Christianity and Islam are utterly unlike each other.
Posted December 20, 2022
I'm no expert on Islam and since it's written in Arabic, depend on the scholarship of others to give a context for an overall view of it. Bill Warner researched and presented the most comprehensive study on Islam containing writings of both Muslim and non Muslim writers, as well as examining the beginning of Islam and how Mohammed turned it from a religion to a political system which became far more popular than its "religious" roots.
As a Christian, I've come to acknowledge the saying "The problem with Christianity is Christians", but when applied to Islam, it seems the biggest problem with Islam is not Muslims, it's Islam. Muslims are trapped in a system which does not allow one the freedom to leave the Qu'ran's demands of seeing non Muslims as "kafirs" or cattle. Islam has it's own Arabic word which describes a behavior peculiar to Islam; "Taqyyia", which means permitted deception in describing the goal of Islam to others. See, ordinarily Muslims are not supposed to lie, but if it's done to advance the goal of world domination, then it's OK.
While presenting the Religion of Peace by some Muslim leaders, they ignore over 100 verses in the Qu'ran which call for the fate of non Muslims by giving them three options in a Muslim controlled area
!. Convert. . Pay a tax for not being a Muslim (30%) which gives the non Muslim "protection". Maybe that's where the Mafia got the "pay for protection" idea. 3. Death if you refuse options one and two.
Warner uses both the Qu'ran and Hadith as well as other Muslim writings to give as comprehensive a picture as outsider can get of Islam and it's not pretty, but necessary to understand the dichotomy of proclamations of how peaceful Islam is while in reality, of all the conflicts going on around the world over 90% involve Islam.
Interesting that Muslims talk about how important Jerusalem is to Islam, but unlike the other "holy" cities of Mecca and Medina, it's not mentioned in the Qu'ran.
And, no doubt, it was the finest wine anyone ever tasted.