In Christ There Is No East Or West
In Christ There Is No East or West
In Christ there is no east or west,
In Him no south or north;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.
In Him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord
Close binding all mankind.
Join hands, then, brothers of the faith,
Whate’er your race may be.
Who serves my Father as a son
Is surely kin to me.
In Christ now meet both east and west,
In Him meet south and north;
All Christly souls are one in Him
Throughout the whole wide earth.
JOHN OXENHAM’S real name was William Arthur Dunkerley. He ran a successful wholesale grocery company and served as a deacon in a Congregational church. He was also a writer, working for newspapers and magazines. Like many journalists, he longed to do more creative work. Perhaps a bit embarrassed about these efforts, he used the name Julian Ross when he wrote some short stories. He borrowed the name John Oxenham from an adventure novel and used it for his poems and hymns. Many of his friends never knew about his triple identity.
Oxenham’s writing was very popular. When he couldn’t find a publisher for his book Bees in Amber, which included this hymn, he published it himself—and sold 286,000 copies!
There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
Galatians 3:28-29
From the book
