Looking for a loophole

Matthew 5:34-36 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

Matthew 23:16, 21-22 Woe unto you, ye blind guides … And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 

While studying Jesus’s teaching about oaths, and thinking about the Pharisees “looking for a loophole” when they swore their oaths – the “looking for a loophole” phrase made me think of the phrase “looking for a city” in the gospel song by W. Oliver Cooper and Marvin P. Dalton.

From thence, I came up with the following text to fit Looking For a City: 

1. Here among the shadows (living) in a land of lies (so obscure),
We’re a band of fibbers in this world;
(By nature) burdened down with evil, (with our) ideas on the rise, 
(We are) looking for a loophole built on words.
 
Chorus:
Looking for a loophole (madly) 
In the oaths we swear (just hoping)
Others do not notice (ever)
That we do not care (to truth-tell);
When we find our deceit (glory!)
And our loophole too (we pray),
May none ever detect (no never)
That our words aren’t true (all our words aren’t true).
 
2. Here in disappointments (often) practicing our fraud,
(We earthly) men no longer speak one word of truth;
(But truly) we have found a loophole, (that we) never mention God,
(When we) swear our oaths to heaven and to earth.
 
Repeat chorus.

My “hymn” was written January 17, 2022. It expresses how not only those Jesus addressed but we as well in modern times, are all too often looking for a way out of keeping our word.

W. Oliver Cooper (words) and Marvin P. Dalton (music) wrote Looking For a City, probably around 1943. Cooper wrote a number of songs, including Heaven Will Surely Be Worth It All in 1945. Dalton also wrote quite a few songs. Perhaps one of his better known is What a Savior.

Here among the shadows (living) in a lonely land (with strangers),

We’re a band of pilgrims on the move; (through dangers)

Burdened down with sorrows, (and we’re) shunned on every hand,

(But we are) Looking for a city built above.