Dedicated to Jill (Bock) Sikkema
Released: 1992
The text of this song is based on Galatians 6:2, where we're told to care for each other by offering mutual support in the name of Christ. It's a message of encouragement toward living the Christian life in a way which honors God through interdependence in the church.
The text is the clue in the sense that it refers to the name "Jill Bear" (and, yes, Jill also likes bears). This was an easy clue to manufacture, and the lyrics lent themselves easily to the task.
The other clue is more obscure since it's couched in Baroque terms. The uppermost half notes in the first two measures of the accompaniment are B-flat, A, C, B-natural. This doesn't make entire sense until you're in possession of the historical fact that in the 1700s musicians referred to our B-flat as B and to our B-natural as H. So the half notes spell B-A-C-H - a pun on Jill's maiden name.
When you see your brother beraring a load that's hard to lift,
When you see him struggling uphill through the storm,
Then go to him and give your arms and shoulders as a gift,
And carry him to where it's dry and warm.Chorus: We're to bear one another's burdens,
We're to take on one another's pain,
We're to bear one another's burdens,
And present ourselves the price to fulfill the law of Christ,
And to demonstrate our love in Jesus' name.When your friend forwakes his bearing for a course he should not take,
When you see him drifting blindly in the night,
Then seek to turn his wayward heart around for Jesus' sake,
And gently lead his life back to the light.Chorus