The aura that The Hollies' 1969 song, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” produces is fascinating to the senses. Akin to the Righteous Brothers’ hit “Unchained Melody” in its regality for love, closer perhaps than one could truly experience with another person, this song brings with it links to Boys Town, founded by Father Edward Joseph Flanagan.
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Father Flanagan “realized that all boys needed love to be productive citizens. That was why [he] turned his energy to loving boys who were neglected.”[1] There is little doubt really that the culture and values of Boys Town captured the brotherhood (and sisterhood) of humanity; that innate desire of the good person to lend a hand to another struggling circumstantially with life. The lyrics of the song that characterised Boys Town's image from 1941 are chillingly wholesome, at once taking us “right there,” where the man or woman is carried -- but carried by whom? It starts:
Father Flanagan “realized that all boys needed love to be productive citizens. That was why [he] turned his energy to loving boys who were neglected.”[1] There is little doubt really that the culture and values of Boys Town captured the brotherhood (and sisterhood) of humanity; that innate desire of the good person to lend a hand to another struggling circumstantially with life. The lyrics of the song that characterised Boys Town's image from 1941 are chillingly wholesome, at once taking us “right there,” where the man or woman is carried -- but carried by whom? It starts:
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The road is long
The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where,
Who knows when
But I'm strong,
Strong enough to carry him.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
s
We know the love of the brother here, most of us. We’ve either seen it or experienced it personally. The road of life is long and it’s mysterious in that we have no idea what a day holds; we simply make our plans don’t we? But how often are our plans fraught with dangers we did not at first see, and how often did we not suspect things that would necessitate re-planning? There is One strong enough to bear all of this however, our brother Jesus -- he’s more than strong enough for each of us.
We know the love of the brother here, most of us. We’ve either seen it or experienced it personally. The road of life is long and it’s mysterious in that we have no idea what a day holds; we simply make our plans don’t we? But how often are our plans fraught with dangers we did not at first see, and how often did we not suspect things that would necessitate re-planning? There is One strong enough to bear all of this however, our brother Jesus -- he’s more than strong enough for each of us.
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So on we go.
So on we go.
His welfare is my concern.
No burden is he to bear,
We'll get there.
For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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God doesn’t consider our burdens burdensome. It’s only us that thinks that way. His grace is sufficient for me and for you. And, the weaker we are the better his strength works through us. We will get there, with him; but not without him. There is no limit to the loving power of God. At no time are we irredeemable. We cannot encumber him. He is uncontainable.
God doesn’t consider our burdens burdensome. It’s only us that thinks that way. His grace is sufficient for me and for you. And, the weaker we are the better his strength works through us. We will get there, with him; but not without him. There is no limit to the loving power of God. At no time are we irredeemable. We cannot encumber him. He is uncontainable.
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If I'm laden at all,
If I'm laden at all,
I'm laden with sadness
That everyone's heart
Isn't filled with the gladness
Of love for one another.
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There is a profoundly horrendous shortage of this sort of love in the world. At no time in history has there been a more strenuous load on the planet and humankind’s ability to support each other; now is the time for this ‘love for one another.’ If only there were a way to convict more hearts, ladening them with this sadness, adding more willingness to the already ‘able’ among us. That is the sadness of God -- the Father’s heart; that more people are not engaged in saving others.
There is a profoundly horrendous shortage of this sort of love in the world. At no time in history has there been a more strenuous load on the planet and humankind’s ability to support each other; now is the time for this ‘love for one another.’ If only there were a way to convict more hearts, ladening them with this sadness, adding more willingness to the already ‘able’ among us. That is the sadness of God -- the Father’s heart; that more people are not engaged in saving others.
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It's a long, long road
It's a long, long road
From which there is no return.
While we're on the way to there,
Why not share?
And the load
Doesn't weigh me down at all.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother.
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A shared load is the gospel story, surely. It is our time. While we’re here, during ‘our time,’ we do not have much of a choice but to live life; the choice to suicide hardly seems an appropriate option, unless destitution and desolation of spirit overtake. We share the load and we know the love of God immediately. To know the love of others who give themselves or gave themselves for us can only realistically be an austere reminder of God’s perfect love that is unreserved, wholehearted, absolute… finished. It is; in Jesus Christ.
A shared load is the gospel story, surely. It is our time. While we’re here, during ‘our time,’ we do not have much of a choice but to live life; the choice to suicide hardly seems an appropriate option, unless destitution and desolation of spirit overtake. We share the load and we know the love of God immediately. To know the love of others who give themselves or gave themselves for us can only realistically be an austere reminder of God’s perfect love that is unreserved, wholehearted, absolute… finished. It is; in Jesus Christ.
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Father Flanagan’s Boys Town sought to bring love into lives that ordinarily may’ve ended on the scrap heap. It was God’s love that would be found in this brotherhood. For the one who needs us, he ain’t heavy, he (or she) is my brother (or sister).
Father Flanagan’s Boys Town sought to bring love into lives that ordinarily may’ve ended on the scrap heap. It was God’s love that would be found in this brotherhood. For the one who needs us, he ain’t heavy, he (or she) is my brother (or sister).
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Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
[1] See http://nebraskastudies.unl.edu/0700/frameset_reset.html?http://nebraskastudies.unl.edu/0700/stories/0702_0101.html
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