searching for space, grounded in grace
I composed this hymn line by line, throughout the season of Advent, using the featured daily words from Rethink Church’s Advent 2021 Photo-a-Day Challenge. I could not have imagined the the heartbreak that these Advent days would hold for so……
This was the closing song during Good Friday worship at Glenwood Lutheran Church, Decorah, Iowa on April 19, 2019. The tune worked on me for several weeks before the text took shape, and it was a few days later that……
Listen to this song at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson. This was the week that winter got the best of me. Nothing seemed to be working. Nothing felt right. I reached out to a new friend, lamenting to her that what I most want……
Listen to this song at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.
Storming
I want a gentle rain that comes in time to nourish life.
I want a soothing word that whispers truth without a fight.
I want the journey’s end to be so clear we cannot stray.
I want to know your love, the length, the depth, the breadth, the height…
But instead it’s storming.
And I don’t know which way to go.
Are you here beside me?
I want to trust you’ll lead me home.
I need grace tangible: fresh baked bread and warming wine.
I need your word to claim: You are my precious, lovely child.
I need your promise kept: I am with you. You are mine.
I need to know your peace, the brokenhearted reconciled.
But instead it’s storming.
And I don’t know which way to go.
Are you here beside me?
I want to trust you’ll lead me home.
I know I’m not alone. You’re not going anywhere.
I know what’s broken now will be made whole and beautiful.
I know that death is real, but it will never be the end.
I know the song goes on and dancing feet are powerful.
So we sing through the storming
Until we know the way to go.
You’re right here beside me.
And when you’re with me I am home.
Listen to this song at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.
Wounded Clay
Sun-draped trees stretch toward your hand.
The river knows its way to you.
The bluffs rise up to frame your sky.
The wind proclaims your love is true.
Refrain
You sustain the weary with a word,
climb beside us on the uphill way,
speak peace into our anxious hearts,
breathe life into this wounded clay.
Sorrow softens at your voice.
Anger’s held in your embrace.
Fear’s frightful grip loses its strength.
Shame falters in the light of grace. Refrain
Raise us up to bring your life.
Lift us up to share your peace.
On this winding trail we trust
you will make war and worry cease. Refrain
Just one warm embrace can scatter cold of winters yet to come.
Just one word becomes a compass point that guides the journey home.
Just one song you played makes me brave now and evermore.
How will you know the difference you have made?
Just one prayer kept me from sinking; you roped my faith to yours.
When I had no heart for singing, my voice became yours.
You knew that in the silence there was healing power untold.
You held me close and helped new hope unfold.
How do we begin to measure what is hidden and unseen?
There’s no formula, no recipe, just this landscape filled with green.
All the seeds you planted rising up, breaking through dry ground.
Fields of love, filling this world round.
I know you cannot see it now; I know you feel unsure.
You wonder what you’re doing here; you wish your path was clear.
But here’s the thing I know for sure, the truth to which I cling.
We are the body, are the heartbeat, of our living God.
And even now God’s love is breaking ground.
Through you and me God’s love is breaking ground.
How do we begin to measure what is hidden and unseen?
There’s no formula, no recipe, just this landscape filled with green.
All the seeds you planted rising up, breaking through dry ground.
Fields of love, filling this world round.
Fields of love, filling this world round.
To see the melody, click here: Breaking Ground-Final – Voice
To listen to this song, click here: https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson. The song begins at the 10 minute mark.
