Mary Had a Little Lamb

One of the most popular nursery rhymes is “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” According to Wikipedia, it originated from a true story in early America. The rhyme was the first recording made by Thomas Edison on his newly invented phonograph in 1877. Lowell Mason composed the well-known melody for “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Many of us learned how to play it on the piano because it’s so simple. I once heard a girl play the song on her push-button telephone on the radio. Paul McCartney had a hit with that title but composed an entirely new melody.

Two days ago I posted this on my social media pages: “If Mary had Jesus, and Jesus is the Lamb of God, does that mean Mary had a little lamb?” A Facebook friend claimed the nursery rhyme was based on the Virgin Mary. That isn’t true but it reminded me of this poem heard at a Joyce Meyer meeting (read by her husband Dave)…

Mary had a little Lamb,

His fleece was as white as snow. 

And everywhere that Mary went, 

The Lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school each day, 

‘Twasn’t even in the rule.

He made the children laugh and play, 

To have a Lamb at school.

And then the rules all changed one day, 

Illegal it became;

To bring the Lamb of God to school, 

Or even speak His Name.

Every day got worse and worse, 

And days turned into years. 

Instead of hearing children laugh, 

We heard gunshots and tears. 

What must we do to stop the crime, 

That’s in our schools today?

Let’s let the Lamb come back to school, 

And teach our kids to pray!

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” - John 1:29