Gij die in ons in dit leven hebt geroepen = You Who Have Called Us Into Being, 1977 - 2018

Relativity is Oosterhuis' framework. We are not nobody, but belong to each other. Even more fundamental to this, our's is a relational Deity. 'God' is not an abstract concept, no re-embodiment of Zeus. Our grasp of understanding of who we are cannot be separated from the One who has called us into being. Who-Continues-To Call-Us-Into-Being may well be regarded as a name for such Deity. This song belongs to an extended setting called Your Word Is Not Too High. This could mean two things. Initially, the word is not beyond us. But in the second language of Dutch, there are two levels of spoken language. High Dutch is that of the "upper classes", low Dutch that of "the street". Even in an alleged classless society, this distinction is still to be found, The Deity is not regarded as being above our social strata but as one who gazes eye to eye with us and speaks in our common tongue The piece was written not for the Dominicus and the Student communities but for an important Protestant occasion, the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the independent publication of the Delft vernacular Bible in 1477, before Martin Luther's Reformation of 1517. The Roman Church banned all religious books in the vernacular. This, the first substantial text of the Old Testament in Dutch, was published in two volumes. The 1977 celebration was held in the city of Delft where it was printed, in the Oude Kerk. This medieval church was built in the year 1246 on the site of an older church of St Bartholomew's. However, in the 1530s it was taken over by the Calvinists. Oosterhuis' program consisted of fragments from this old Bible. Its Protestant nature explains the sense of shame and guilt characterizing the human condition, and of our total dependence on God. We are incapable of achieving holiness or salvation by our own efforts. Yet the entire celebration was under the banner of Het Woordt is niet te hoog; God's Word is not beyond us. The Word became one of us, through whom we become one with God. The text might be somewhat disarming, in its reference to guilt and accusation. But this was a Protestant ceremony, to celebrate the Old Testament, which is a story of sin and redemption, of guilt and reconciliation. In our weakened state, we stand in need of the One Who is greater than our heart, who does not accuse but forgives. This is the essence of Protestant theology, especially of Calvinism which us more austere than Lutheranism. Calvinism is found in the north of the country, Lutheranism in the south, the major Rhine/Waal river being the dividing line. --Tony Barr