Merciful to Us

January 2, 2014 by joachim

Last night, at New Year’s Eve, we were with friends in St. John’s Cathedral at the annual Concert for Peace. It was a beautiful solemn night, with concerts, songs, and a candle-lighting ceremony.

But this one hymn, whose text is reprinted below, struck me as remarkable. It is identified on the Program as a Traditional Ovambo from South Africa. The translation, at least, sounds funny:

One person is in authority, at a high place. The other one is an underdog, at a low place. To the underdog the implication is that the one above will abuse his power. There is no doubt about it. This is the state of the world, after all. The plea for mercy seems a direct consequence of the unjust imbalance of power.

Nampili tuli ronge kapi
Membo yene ye,
Meduru membo jeto jene ne.

Lord, you are up there
and we are down here.
Please be merciful to us.

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