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I’ve always struggled with trying to get outside of my own self in my songwriting, with striking the balance between personal expression and interaction with the world outside. Well, it happens that the season of Advent, the weeks leading up to Christmas, coincide with the beginning of my song sketchbook project. So for these reasons I thought that this week it might be appropriate to up the ante on my assignment to myself, and set the goal of writing a Christmas song.

This song is about Simeon, the devout old prophet in the gospel of Luke (chapter 2) who has waited his whole life for the Messiah, and finally gets to hold the baby Jesus in his arms in the Temple before he passes on.  Here are the words:

Coming on like the first light of dawn
stolen from across the sea
Now I’ll finally hold you right here in my arms
and sleep; it will come easily

You’ve alighted, you’ve pierced through the clouds
now you’re in the nest of the night
Bright and new, just as I’d pictured you
you fill the best of my sight

My hands are cracked and my body is worn
from years in the hot desert sun
I’ve seen the dry wind and the locusts all swarm
but now all my yearning is done

Body of all that my yearnings could see
Your body so small and so weak
You were the Word when all time was a dream
before that first morning, first week

Now I wait no more
I see dust by the sunlight through the crack of the door
Now I reach my rest
When I wake I’ll be with you again

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 14th, 2008 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Song Sketchbook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.