Yes, I said it. Lots of folks like the song for a couple of reasons: it’s pretty, and it talks about the healings of Jesus in ways that work well for people for whom the physical healings of Jesus are foundational to their understanding of faith. Many musical artists have covered the song in various styles, adding to the popularity of this tune. 

But I’m a United Church of Christ pastor, a songwriter, and a disability theologian, and I’m here to tell you there are better songs out there. I’m not the first to talk about this (the biggest problems with this song are well-documented on social media sites), but I will keep sharing (and ranting) about this until we find better songs to sing. 

(You might want to reference the lyrics while reading this.)

My concerns with this song are not all listed here, but here are the two worst offenders. 

First, it’s biblically inaccurate. Mary did know. Mary’s visitation by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1: 26-39), and Mary’s responsive song (often called the Magnificat) remind us that Mary was fully aware that Jesus would bring liberation to many. Let’s compare some of the song’s lyrics to the gospel kept for us in Luke 1. (This isn’t exhaustive, because of copyright and reprinting concerns). 

Lastly, it’s ableist and very harmful to disabled folks in our congregations. The bridge (the part that starts with “the blind will see, the deaf will hear…” is especially unhelpful as words like “lame” and “dumb”, which previously connoted various experiences of disability, now have negative connotations in our society. Unfortunately, there’s not much of a way to redeem this without significantly changing the text/meaning. An important piece of disability culture to know is that not all blind or deaf people want to see or hear, and that assuming receiving sight/hearing to be a blessing inherently makes disability a negative experience and normalizes the belief that all our life experiences must be the same. Where is the good news in the bridge for the blind person in your congregation can’t see and doesn’t want to?  

So, what should we sing instead? I have a few suggestions: 

• Jennifer Henry wrote alternative lyrics to the tune, which are much better theologically and don’t have the ableist language.
• Because many people are more comfortable singing the song with the original lyrics, it’s probably easier just to scrap it in favor of songs such as:
  • “Labor of Love” (Point of Grace or Jill Phillips versions)
  • “Breath of Heaven” by Amy Grant
  • Other new congregational music available through sites like Convergence Music Project. 

There is so much beautiful music in the world that is fresh, inclusive, and theologically sound. It’s about time to let that music sing.