This article was written for the October 2026 issue of our parish magazine.
This year the Church of England introduced a new festival: Creation Sunday. It was celebrated on the first Sunday in September, and the theme was Jesus as Living Water. St Margaret’s was well ahead of the game, having introduced a whole season of Creationtide some years ago, with each Sunday in September having a different theme. Over the years these have included ‘humanity’ (Streets of London, Vagabonds), ‘the sea’ (Harbour, la Mer), ‘flora’ (What a Wonderful World), ‘fauna’ (Lost Words Blessing), and ‘rivers’, for which last year Tom and I offered “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.
This year every Sunday of our Creationtide is based around water, with anthems including “Gaelic Blessing” (for Christ in Creation), “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (for Living Water), “Like a Rainbow” (for hope from faith in action – God’s ‘Rainbow Covenant’ with Noah) and “Look to the Day” (for immersion, repentance and healing). This was rounded off at our Harvest Festival on 4 October when we sang “What a Wonderful World”.
You probably know that Bridge Over Troubled Water was written in 1969 by Paul Simon, but did you know that he was inspired by a line from the 1959 gospel song “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep”: ‘I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in my name’. The lyrics are full of imagery:
When you’re weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I’m on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
When you’re down and out,
When you’re on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I’ll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Sail on silver girl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
‘Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down’ is the central metaphor of the song, signifying total selflessness and sacrifice—laying your own body down so someone else can walk across the danger safely instead of drowning in it, where ‘troubled water’ represents chaotic circumstances, loneliness or deep hardship. It is easy to see Jesus in this, laying down his human life in the ultimate sacrifice to save us from ourselves.
What of the phrase “Sail on silver girl”? Well, Paul Simon explained that it was an inside joke with his then wife, Peggy Harper, who had recently noticed her first grey hairs. So, for all ‘women of a certain age’ embracing the appearance of ‘natural highlights’, it is “[y]our time to shine”. We are in the Maga or Queen phase of or lives, when we develop a profound personal sovereignty, shifting our focus from nurturing others to reclaiming ourselves. This is a powerful time of life when dreams really can be realised, and if we’re truly blessed, our friends are sailing behind and cheering us on.
This song has become a timeless anthem of empathy, unconditional support and resilience during life’s hardest trials. I think we all need some of that in our lives.
You can see Tom and I closing a service with “Bridge Over Troubled Water” here:
Carol P
