Michael Row the Boat Ashore

At our Singing for Health group on Friday we sung a song I’ve known for most of my life, ‘Michael Row the Boat Ashore’. It has many versions; I remember Pete Seeger’s:

Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah
Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah

Jordan’s river is deep and wide, hallelujah.
Meet my mother on the other side, hallelujah.

Jordan’s river is chilly and cold, hallelujah.
Chills the body, but not the soul, hallelujah.

It’s a song about crossing the Jordan, a river that has important symbolic significance for Christians…

…The Israelites have been wandering in the desert for forty years. Moses their leader has died and hands leadership over to Joshua. They’re about to enter their promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, but a flooded River Jordan’s in the way. In obedience to his God, Joshua and the people step into the river, the river stops flowing and the people cross on dry ground.

…Many years later the powerful, influential prophet Elijah is coming to the end of his life he comes with his apprentice, Elisha, to the River Jordan. Suddenly a chariot of fire appears, taking Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind, leaving Elisha his cloak and his prophetic power and responsibilities.

Thirty-year-old Jesus has been the unspectacular village carpenter in Nazareth. He goes to the River Jordan where he’s baptised by his cousin John. God’s spirit, like a dove comes down on him, and a voice from heaven says, ‘This is my Son…’ Jesus then spends forty days alone in the desert, he chooses his twelve disciples, and the next three years change the world.

In the Bible the River Jordan speaks of change. It’s the place where faith is tested, where an individual – Joshua, Elisha, Jesus – stands alone, stands with their God, and a new life is started.

Originally ‘Michael Row the Boat Ashore’ was and old black American spiritual. For slaves The River spoke of freedom, justice, a new life. It was part of their prayers for future and hope…

The River Jordan also speaks of death… crossing the river from earth to heaven. ‘Michael’ – Archangel Michael – rows the boat ashore.

This morning I’m musing on death, not in a morbid way, but as the place of hope, where I stand alone, where my faith is tested, where everything changes, and my God is there as my boat comes ashore.