The Lone Wild Bird

Perhaps the power of this relatively new hymn lies in its simplicity. “The Lone Wild Bird” offers minimal theological treatise while proclaiming the truth that lies behind all religious sentiment – that transcendent connection with the divine is within our grasp. Once someone experiences that moment of transcendence, he or she begins to use whatever theology he or she has inherited to attempt to describe it. The transcendent experience, however, is a basic gift to all of humanity, regardless of culture, orientation, or creed.

Written in 1925 by Henry McFadyen, the song has a folk/Appalachian feel about it (For a brief history of the song's origin and development, go here).

Here are two different renditions. The first is by the Honey Whiskey Trio and is sung outside near the trees where one might see that wild bird, and where one may often catch that sense of transcendence. The second is from a formal house of worship, where relationship with the divine is the central expression.

  

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