Isn’t it great that we have each other? Gut, daß wir einander haben!

I really enjoy small group worship. I also enjoy large group worship. There are benefits to both kinds of groups-both the small group meeting in a circle on Sunday morning, like we are in Dresden and the large group meeting in a huge building singing to each other with hundreds of voices like so many places in the US. This morning we were about 17 people in attendance and we had a prayer/song service. I enjoyed the sun coming in the windows, the homemade communion bread and the sound of each individual voice which I could hear because of the smallness of the group. I know that when we go back to the US I will miss these things, but I will also enjoy the encouragement of so many voices being raised in song together that I cannot begin to distinguish one from the other; looking at so many faces of people who are ready to lend a hand, be a friend and exemplify the body of Christ as one. That is also a wonderful sight to behold.

One thing however, that I will truly miss is singing some of my favorite songs in German. There are some that are translated old American or English hymns, but there are also many hymns written and composed by German writers and one thing about the German language is that it is so simplistically descriptive. Oftentimes a verb is so descriptive in and of itself that it needs no adverbial helpers to go along with it. The texts are also oftentimes more simple, to-the-point and get right to the heart of the matter. One such song that I enjoy is one we sang today called “Gut, daß wir einander haben” or “It’s good that we have one another” by Manfred Siebald. For my German friends, it’s 407 in the green songbook 🙂

Isn’t it wonderful that regardless of the size, the family of Christians you worship with is there for you in all their fallible glory but that we have that in common which makes us pure as gold…Christ.

(English translation below)

Chorus (sung first in many German hymns):

Gut, daß wir einander haben, gut, daß wir einander sehn,

Sorgen, Freuden, Kräfte teilen

und auf einem Wege gehn.

Gut, daß wir nicht uns nur haben, daß der Kreis sich niemals schließt

und daß Gott, von dem wir reden,

hier in unsrer Mitte ist.

1. Keiner, der nur immer redet; keiner, der nur immer hört.

Jedes Schweigen, jedes Hören, jedes Wort hat seinen Wert.

Keiner widerspricht nur immer; keiner paßt sich immer an.

Und wir lernen, wie man streiten und sich dennoch lieben kann.

2. Keiner, der nur immer jubelt; keiner, der nur immer weint.

Oft schon hat uns Gott in unsrer Freude, unsrem Schmerz vereint.

Keiner trägt nur immer andre; keiner ist nur immer Last.

Jedem wurde schon geholfen; jeder hat schon angefaßt.

3. Keiner ist nur immer schwach, und keiner hat für alles Kraft.

Jeder kann mit Gottes Gaben das tun, was kein andrer schafft.

Keiner, der noch alles braucht, und keiner, der schon alles hat.

Jeder lebt von allen andern; jeder macht die andern satt.

Chorus:

Gut, daß wir einander haben, gut, daß wir einander sehen,

Sorgen, Freuden, Kräfte teilen

und auf einem Wege gehn.

Gut, daß wir nicht uns nur haben, daß der Kreis sich niemals schließt

und daß Gott, von dem wir reden,

hier in unsrer Mitte ist.

And in the best English translation I can manage without help (send me a message if I got something wrong!):

Good, that we have each other, good, that we see each other,

We share cares, joys and strengths as we walk one path together.

Good, that we not only have each other; that the circle is never closed,

And that God, who we talk about together, is in our midst.

1. There is no one who always talks; there is no one who always listens.

Silence, listening and words all have their worth.

There is no one who always contradicts; there is no one who always fits in.

And we learn how to love one another even when we argue.

2. There is no one who is always joyful; there is no one who always cries.

Often God unites us through our joys and through our pain.

There is no one who always carries others; there is no one who is always a burden.

Every one has been helped; everyone has taken hold.

3. There is no one who is always weak and no one who always has strength for everything.

There will always be those who can use their God-given gifts to do the work that others cannot.

There is no one who needs everything and no one who has everything.

Every person lives off of everyone else and every person gives the others enough.

Chorus:

Good, that we have each other, good, that we see each other,

We share cares, joys and strengths as we walk one path together.

Good, that we not only have each other; that the circle is never closed,

And that God, who we talk about together, is in our midst.