Mtr Mary Trainor
I Saw a Man…
Dear friend,
Remember “Dueling Banjos” from the 1972 movie, Deliverance? Yes? No?
Even if you remember, I bet you cannot name the man who wrote it: Arthur Smith. It doesn’t stand out, does it. Maybe that’s why the movie’s makers failed to credit the song to him, resulting in a lawsuit.
As it turns out, Arthur Smith wrote many songs, and one of them caught my ear recently. It is titled, “I Saw a Man.” The most popular version was recorded by Johnny Cash, whose gravelly voice tells us about a dream:
Last night I dreamed
An angel came
He took my hand
He called my name
He bid me look
The other way
I saw a man
I heard him say…
As it goes on, the lyrics remind me of today’s Gospel from Matthew:
He said if I be lifted up
I'll draw all men to me
He turned and then
I saw the nail-scarred hand
That bled for me
I touched the hem of his garment
That fell round him there
My life, my heart, I gave
My soul was in his care.
I am deeply moved each time I encounter the passage about the woman healed by simply touching the fringe of Jesus’ garment. And the little girl everyone thought to be dead— lifted like a feather from her deathbed, and returned to her family
Encounters with Jesus can be like that. Enlivening and sweet. Full of promise and hope.
Mtr Mary
Listen here
I Saw a Man