Rambles of One Windborn(e)

from EDWARD WATERS, Bard of the Grey Wind

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Poet, singer-songwriter, essayist, aphorist. BA in English Literature (1980); Master of Divinity (1991). Married in 1980 to Cindy ('My best friend and the love of my life'). Itinerant work of music and speaking spanned four decades, ranging over most of the length of the U.S. eastern seaboard and to England. Has composed over 90 songs. Released first recorded collection, The Thing That Matters, in 1988. This and more recent selections may be heard online at Edward's primary website, Bard of the Grey Wind, also containing some of his general writing and poetry. Partial to ancient and mediaeval literature and history; Shakespeare; etymology; legend and folklore; and the lives, works, and scholarship of British authors associated with the Inklings circle. Enjoys early and Baroque music, 'period' films, family evenings of reading aloud, and (particularly during autumn and winter) walking in the woods and mountains. Also has devout views on the proper preparation of a decent cup of tea.

17 June 2006

Words of the Holy and Profane


What Does It Mean?
A Song by Edward Waters
(Copyright © 1989)

What does it mean to take His name in vain?[1]
Isn't it more than joining words of the holy and profane?
How often have I done my will and given Him the blame --
Calling my whim 'following Him', as if they were the same?

What does it mean to obey my Lord?
Isn't it more than an excuse for breaking my word?
How often have I changed my mind and said it was His lead?
How much of the doubt men have toward Him
is the fruit of my deeds?

It's unavoidable that stumbling blocks should come,
But woe to him by whom they come to be;
For if I cause faith to stumble, it would be better for me
To be weighted down and thrown into the sea.[2]

What does it mean to be children of His?
Doesn't it mean in us they see His love and His steadfastness?
Yet how often have His own confused the holy and profane?[3]
Only the ones who bear His name can take His name in vain.


[1] Exodus 20.7; Deuteronomy 5.11
[2] Matthew 18.6-7; Luke 17.1-2
[3] Ezekiel 22.26-28

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