Monday, September 5

Awaken


The Great Awakening touched every section of the colonial domains of England in the New World—from northern-most New England to southern-most Georgia.  And its impact was enormous.  Interestingly, this cultural and spiritual phenomenon was entirely driven by grassroots evangelism and community cooperation, as Lawrence Tribble’s little ditty, "Awaken," illustrates. 

I found this bit of verse at a Boston library about 20 years ago.  It had been tucked away in the back of a Revolutionary War era Bible, lost for over 200 years.

The contemporary Christian music group, Leeland, has now set these lyrics to music for their upcoming CD, “The Great Awakening.”  I couldn’t be more pleased for a new generation to hear—and heed:

One man awake,
            Awakens another.
The second awakens
            His next-door brother.
The three awake can rouse a town
            By turning
            The whole place
            Upside down.

The many awake
            Can make such a fuss
It finally awakens
            The rest of us.
One man up,
            With dawn in his eyes,
            Surely then
            It multiplies.


2 comments:

EJN said...

Great poem. It is a wonderful addition to our government class.
Thank you.

MacLaren said...

That's a really cool find. May a new awakening cover America.