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