Many Christian churches this morning would have featured a reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, including this passage which might have evoked a certain melody in the minds of Bob Dylan fans:
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature be thus minded; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Revised Standard Version)
The phrase “upward call of God” was “high call of God” in the King James.
Of-course the refrain of Bob Dylan’s song “Pressing On” goes like this:
Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord
And there’s really not much more you can say but that, which is probably why the song is largely just that refrain repeated over and over again.
Killing two birds with one stone on this Day of Saint Patrick, I am embedding a live version via YouTube below from two talented Irishmen, namely Liam O Maonlai and Glen Hansard. Continue reading “Pressing On”