December 18, 2006

Sarah at the Grammies

she won last night for her song

“Building a Mystery”

with that odd little line

“and a cross from a faith
that died before Jesus came”

evoking images of mighty empires

long since laid to rest

upon forgotten kings

buried deep in dust of time

leaving only scattered traces

the merest ghost of their glory, gone

as if age, somehow

inherited supremacy

and if supreme

why dead

but He can play her game

for He made the ground

upon which those faithful stood

and fell

the very air of their breath

His gift

if age, somehow

inherits supremacy

He is supreme

in and of Himself

and lives!

He’s been here all along

before, during, and after

those forgotten realms

that predate His body

but not His life

He is

long times before time began

the target of all our faiths

to oppose or to adore

unchanging He remains

the Lord

He is

mystery greater than all our dreams

sufficient for all our hopes

A revision of one written after Sarah McLachlan won a

Grammy for her song “Building a Mystery” February 26, 1998