As the theme of Advent this week is hope, I wanted to share the lyrics to one of my favorite songs that celebrates that hope. I have always found David Wilcox’s songs to hold truth in their very self-awarely simple and folksy way. The album this song is from, Into the Mystery, didn’t leave my cd player for about a year after it was released as I let the songs seep in. I keep coming back to this song though because of how beautifully it captures the hope of the incarnation. Enjoy.
If it Wasn’t for the Night
If it wasn’t for the night
So cold this time of year
The stars would never shine so bright
So beautiful and clearI have walked this road alone
My thin coat against the chill
When the light in me was gone
And my winter house was stilledWhen I grieved for all I’d made
Out of all I had to give
On the eve of Christmas day
With no reason left to liveEven then somehow in the bitter wind and cold
Impossibly strong I know
Even then a bloom as tender as a rose
Was breaking through the snow
In the dark night of the soul
In the dark night of the soulIf it wasn’t for the babe
Lying helpless on the straw
There would be no Christmas day
And the night would just go onWhen it seem that death has won
Buried deep beneath the snow
Where the summer leaves have gone
The seed of hope will grow