Pastors Corner

The Way and the Word

December 10, 2023

In this bulletin article, I would like to share one of my favorite songs, appropriately an Advent hymn, seeing that Advent is my favorite season. A song is obviously better heard than read, but the lyrics are beautiful. I hope you’ll read through them slowly, and once you’ve done that, perhaps you can look up the song and listen to it the way the artist intended. One line that sticks out to me in a particular way is: What Eden destroyed in us, Love has restored. What a great line! Every time I hear it, I am reminded of the devastation that original sin has caused. Every hurt, sorrow, embarrassment, discomfort, and trial – all of it is the result of original sin, the corruption that took place in the Garden of Eden. The beauty is that it does not stop there with us lost and confused – instead of leaving us on our own, Love itself entered into the world. Advent is a season of mystery and anticipation for the fulfillment of the promise that Christ will return. What might that look like? What might that feel like? I leave you with the lyrics of this beautiful song with the hope that it will engage your prayer life as much as it has mine.  

The Way and the Word

by PJ Anderson

In the still of the night

‘neath the shadow and sky

Oh, we had lost our way

But love made a path

Through the dust and the ash

And all that the dark concealed

He brought to light

Refrain: Oh, come, come, in adoration

Come to the place 

where the heavens meet earth

And sing, sing, O sweet incarnation

Come and behold him, 

the Way and the Word

Now the dark is not dark

There’s a lamp for our hearts

And a balm for the wounds we bear

We have been healed

Our redemption, revealed

What Eden destroyed in us

Love has restored

Refrain

Your way is peace

Your word is life

O Lamb of God

Our salvation and light

Come to the place 

where the heavens meet earth

And sing, sing, O sweet incarnation

Come and behold him, 

the Way and the Word

Refrain

Two Parishes, One Heart,

Fr. Adam