Shall we overcome?

Reflections on an auld sang

There is a protest song from the civil rights movement in the United States called We Shall Overcome. Whilst I was aware of this song, I was aware of it only as a vague historical footnote—the soundtrack of struggles past. But, upon reading the lyrics, and seeing them applied in real-life efforts to resist that suffocating haughtiness that characterises contemporary government, I have had cause to consider them afresh:

The song starts

We shall overcome
We shall overcome

This combines hope and optimism. Overcoming means victory. The thing to be overcome is not specified for the challenges of life are too numerous to define. It is simply that obstacle, problem, or difficulty, be it internal or external, that, once recognised, needs to be defeated.

We shall overcome, someday

“Someday” reminds us that the struggle can be long, perhaps life-long. It reminds us that we must be relentless, determined, and never despairing. It reminds us to hope and never give up.

Oh, deep in my heart
I know that I do believe
We shall overcome, someday

It is deep in the heart that resides the core of one’s personality, that part that defines what it is to be you. A generation ago, this was viewed as a mere metaphor; devoid of real meaning. The heart, we were told, is a simple, if remarkably durable, muscular pump. Now we know better. The heart, it transpires, contains 40,000 neurons. It has, in recent times, been called “The Little Brain”.

In 1991, Dr Armour discovered the intrinsic cardiac nervous system. The 2019 paper by Ali M Alshami titled “Pain: Is it All in the Brain or the Heart” reviewed recent findings and concluded:

Signals from the "heart brain" redirect to the medulla, hypothalamus, thalamus, and amygdala and the cerebral cortex. Thus, the heart sends more signals to the brain than vice versa. … The heart is not just a pump. [emphasis added]

In “The Heart, Mind and Spirit”, Professor Mohamed Omar Salem stated:

It was found that, the heart seemed to have its own peculiar logic that frequently diverged from the direction of the autonomic nervous system. The heart appeared to be sending meaningful messages to the brain that it not only understood, but also obeyed. Later, neurophysiologists discovered a neural pathway and mechanism whereby input from the heart to the brain could inhibit or facilitate the brain’s electrical activity.

Nerve cells (yellow) that make up a heart’s “brain”

This is one of many recent examples of modern science eventually catching up with scripture. God’s word always recognised the heart as synonymous with the nature of a man. It defines how we respond to events in ways that conscious, directed thought does not replicate. The heart is something definitive, core, foundational. It is the seat of our identities as men and women. To experience a change of heart has long been understood to mean to change beliefs, viewpoints, perceptions, and discernment.

With medical advances now allowing heart transplants to be relatively common (over 4000 per annum in the United States alone) a change of heart now has a physical meaning as well. The surprising evidence is that the surgery is commonly changing more than was conventionally expected. Many testimonies are now extant that describe the effects of receiving a heart upon the personality of the recipient. Claire Sylvia wrote a memoir of her experiences called “A Change of Heart” and many similar testimonies are emerging.

Professor Salem concludes:

It has long been thought that conscious awareness originates in the brain alone. Recent scientific studies suggest that consciousness emerges from the brain and body acting together. As has been shown, a growing body of evidence now suggests that the heart plays a particularly significant role in this process. The above findings indicate that, the heart is far more than a simple pump. In fact, it is seen now as a highly complex, self- organizing information processing centre with its own functional ‘brain’ that communicates with, and influences, the cranial brain via the nervous system, hormonal system and other pathways. The involvement of the heart with intuitive functions is another interesting piece of information.

So “deep in my heart, I do believe” is a profound truth. It is, I suspect, why I respond to the song.

Paul, writing to the Romans, describes man’s rejection of God to be the result of a heart-problem:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom 1:21)

When the lord exhorts his chosen people to obey, He also refers to the heart:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And when He addresses part of his people, the backsliding and wayward House of Israel, to tell them that he will gather them, cleanse them, and use them for a holy purpose, the Lord again refers to the heart:

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Eze 36:26-27)

So it is revealed that what we must overcome is the evil that lies in men’s hearts. And when we are speaking collectively, using the pronoun of the first person plural, “we”, then it is clear that we need an intervention to renew the hearts of our people. It is also clear that the Lord, for his own name’s sake, will do this.

So we shall overcome, although not with our own strength, nor for our own fame. Rather it will be the Lord’s work and the glory shall be his. But we shall have the benefit and can now experience the hope and the comfort of knowing what great things the Lord will do.

And perhaps also, because of this hope; because of the increasingly undeniable logic and reason of scripture, and because of the inescapable conclusion that the Lord will do as he has declared, we can also sing a further verse of this simple song and mean every word:

We are not afraid (oh Lord)
We are not afraid (oh Lord)
We are not afraid, today

Oh, deep in my heart
I know that I do believe
We shall overcome, someday