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THE HYMN OF JESUS

By G. R. S. MEAD

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The Hymn

Glory to Thee, Father!

   (And we going round in a ring answered to Him:)

   Amen!

   Glory to Thee, Word (Logos)!

   Amen!

   Glory to Thee, Grace (Charis)!

   Amen!

   Glory to Thee, Spirit!
   Glory to Thee, Holy One!
   Glory to Thy Glory!

   Amen!

   We praise Thee, O Father;
   We give Thanks to Thee, O light;
   In Whom Darkness dwells not!

   Amen!

   (For what we give thanks to the Logos).

   [Or, if we adopt the "emended" text: For what we give thanks, I say:]

   I would be saved; and I would save.

   Amen!

   I would be loosed; and I would loose.

   Amen!

   I would be wounded; and I would wound.

   [Or, I would be pierced; and I would pierce.

   Another reading has:
   I would be dissolved (or consumed for love); and I would dissolve.]

   Amen!

   I would be begotten; and I would beget.

   Amen!

   I would eat; and I would be eaten.

   Amen!

   I would hear; and I would be heard.

   Amen!

   [I would understand; and] I would be understood; being all Understanding (Nous).

   [The first cause I have supplied; the last is probably a gloss.]

   I would be washed; and I would wash.

   Amen!

   (Grace leadeth the dance.)

   I would pipe; dance ye all.

   Amen!

   I would play a dirge; lament ye all.

   Amen!

   The one Eight (Ogdoad) sounds (or plays) with us.

   Amen!

   The Twelfth number above leadeth the dance.

   Amen!

   All whose nature is to dance [doth dance].

   Amen!

   Who danceth not, knows not what is being done.

   Amen!

   I would flee; and I would stay.

   Amen!

   I would be adorned; and I would adorn.

   [The clauses are reversed in the text.]

   Amen!

   I would be at-oned; and I would at-one.

   Amen!

   I have no dwelling; and I have dwellings.

   Amen!

   I have no place; and I have places.

   Amen!

   I have no temple; and I have temples.

   Amen!

   I am a lamp to thee who seest Me.

   Amen!

   I am a mirror to thee who understandest Me.

   Amen!

   I am a door to thee who knockest at Me.

   Amen!

   I am a way to thee a wayfarer.

   Amen!

   Now answer to My dancing!

   See thyself in Me who speak;
   And seeing what I do,
   Keep silence on My Mysteries.

   Understand by dancing, what I do;
   For thine is the Passion of Man
   That I am to suffer.

   Thou couldst not at all be conscious
   Of what thou dost suffer,
   Were I not sent as thy Word by the Father.
   [The last clause may be emended: I am thy Word; I was sent by the Father.]

   Seeing what I suffer,

   Thou sawest Me as suffering;
   And seeing, thou didst not stand,
   But wast moved wholly,
   Moved to be wise.

   Thou hast Me for a couch; rest thou upon Me.

   Who I am thou shalt know when I depart.
   What now I am seen to be, that I am not.
   [But what I am] thou shalt see when thou comest.

   If thou hadst known how to suffer,
   Thou wouldst have power not to suffer.
   Know [then] how to suffer, and thou hast power not to suffer.

   That which thou knowest not, I Myself will teach thee.

   I am thy God, not the Betrayer's

   I would be kept in time with holy souls.

   In Me know thou the Word of Wisdom.

 

   Say thou to Me again:

   Glory to Thee, Father!
   Glory to Thee, Word!
   Glory to TheSe, Holy Spirit!

 

   But as for Me, if thou wouldst know what I was:
   In a word I am the Word who did play [or dance] all things, and was not shamed at all.
   'Twas I who leaped [and danced].

   But do thou understand all, and, understanding, say:

   Glory to Thee, Father!

   Amen!

   (And having danced these things with us, Beloved, the Lord went forth. And we, as though beside ourselves, or wakened out of [deep} sleep, fled each our several ways.)