I wanted to share w/ ya’ll a new song from my favorite artist — David Wilcox. It’s called “Vow of Silence” — and for me, it’s a beautiful exploration of God’s communication with us.
Music and lyrics below (after you click on “Continue reading”).
I hope you enjoy.
[display_podcast]
I’ll keep my vow of silence now foreverIt’s the only wayIf you can’t hear my heart when we’re togetherThere’s nothing I could say
The trees explain the wind out in the distanceThe message is so clearI have to send my words through your resistanceSo silent you can hearI walked upon this earth and spoke in beautyTo people all aroundI waved away the words that poured right through meAnd never made a soundFor if I spoke as loud as rolling thunderAnother war could startSo I speak in silent sacred wonderStraight into the heartI’m moving in the waves that roll the oceanMeet me at the shoreThe flowers on my grave can’t stop the motionI’m closer than beforeIf the light has chased off all your deamonsThere’s nothing you must doThere’s no need to explain what you believe inThey’ll feel my love in youI’m giving you the right: let love adore you Across the years and milesI’m living this new life that’s waiting for youSee it in my smile
Comments 7
You know, I once read an article by Stephen King about writing scary stories. He said that the scariest part of any story is the moment just BEFORE you reveal the scary object, because as soon as you reveal it, the audience learns to cope with it. For instance, if it’s a 20-foot man-eating bug, the audience is scared for a moment, and then thinks, “Oh, well, at least it wasn’t a 50-foot man-eating bug!” Similarly, if it IS a 50-foot man-eating bug, the audience then thinks, “At least it wasn’t a 100-foot man-eating bug!” The suspense is the scary thing, not the bug itself. Hitchcock knew this, and so does Stephen King.
There’s something really strange about that build-up, even with very good things. Remember all the Christmases when we were children. I remember being in July or May and thinking, “Christmas is so far away! How will I survive?” And yet, when Christmas actually came, it was wonderful I suppose, but the day afterward was just a day. And we had to clean up all the junk we left all over the house. And worst of all, half the stuff we got for Christmas had already broken, or we realized we left it on all night and the batteries had died. The day after Christmas was usually spent wondering how I’d make it till my NEXT Christmas, when I can get all the stuff that Santa had utterly failed to get me that Christmas. But I was mindful the entire year to be relatively good, because I knew that “Santa” was watching (to be fair, my parents never taught me about Santa, but I understood the symbolism at an early age and didn’t spoil it for the other kids).
There have been very dark times in my life, times where I prayed and told God, “Listen, I know you don’t do this for everybody, but could you just reveal yourself to me somehow? I’m begging you, I can’t go on another day unless I know you’re real.” And He never did. Usually I just started my faith from zero and then started over, building it up slowly. I don’t want to sound like I’m glad He didn’t show up because it would have been a let-down, like Christmas. That’s not it, at all. But I know that if God revealed Himself to me at that time, a little bit of me would have died, I think. The part of me that HOPED for Christ, that HOPED for God, that HOPED for salvation. I wouldn’t have hope anymore because I would know for sure that God exists, and we’re commanded to have hope in this life. How can we have hope if God’s existence is a certainty?
If there’s anything I know, it’s that God doesn’t want to speak directly to us right now. We’re not all partakers of a First Vision-like experience. Some are. I’ve read quite a bit about NDEs and, to me, that represents something real and fascinating. But for me, I kind of like preserving the mystery, and when I meet God, I will certainly fall to my knees in worship. It will be like the best Christmas ever.
Hi, John, how ya doing? I’m just discovering this blog.
I think this song is incredibly boring. The lyrics are good, and I find them worthy of pondering, but the melody is just another same-old, same-old boring melody. His voice is sweet, but boring.
I hate those Mormon CD’s where every song and every melody sounds pretty much the same. Ain’t nobody got rhythm?
Anne… I just have to plug for my personal website. It’s about LDS musicians who don’t write LDS music, and it’s an attempt to solve the problem you mention (EFY albums that all sound the same).
But, just so you know, David Wilcox isn’t LDS. 🙂
I’m a David Wilcox fan too. “Common as the Rain” is one of those songs I can listen to over and over again and never get tired of it. I really like this one too. Thanks.
Reminds me of silence and Chaim Potok in The Chosen.
Anne, if there is one thing about the bloggernacle I miss, its you!
It’s up for interpretation. Could be about anybody. I embrace the simplicity of this song. It has much depth and so peaceful. It’s a wonderful song.