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WHEN DID THE WORDS CHANGE?
‘Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow, black and white
All our precious in his or her sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.’
I remember singing this song in catechism class
after which…with our teacher we’d discuss.
She said since we are all God’s children
he or she loves each and every one of us.
As we’d sing she would call us each by name…
saying God made us all a little different…
but he, or she, loves us just the same.
Our teacher was adamant in her faith, her beliefs and her assumptions…her conclusions…
She said this song has no fine print, no hidden clauses
no exemptions…no exclusions!
She said this is a song about love and how love is the key
the cornerstone of all life, of all religions and spirituality.
She taught us how singing is both a spiritual and beautiful way to pray….
and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if we substituted Jesus
with Brahman, Buddha, Allah or Yahweh.
She said we should feel love when we sing this song
and I’m sure all Gods would agree
our goal in life should be to spread this love for all the world to see.
But something’s happened to the song we sang when we were innocent and young
the words have lost their meaning…or perhaps the song’s no longer sung.
We are still those same children of the world…
Red, brown, yellow, black and white…
but along the way we’ve stopped seeing each other as precious in our sight.
To those of you who believe in religion…who believe in a God
but no longer believe the words to this song are true….
Look in the mirror…
the problem is not with your religion
or your God…
The problem is with you.
