Figure of Grief, from the Tomb of Pierre Gareau by Francois Dominique Aime Milhomme

The wounded hands, the weary human face.

Christ Bearing the Cross, with Dominican Friar by Barna da Siena

Come down, O Christ, and help me! Reach thy hand
For I am drowning in a stormier sea
Than Simon on thy lake of Galilee:
The wine of life is split upon the sand,
My heart is as some famine-murdered land
When all good things have perished utterly,
And well I know my soul in Hell must lie
If I this night before God's throne should stand.
"He sleeps, perchance, or rideth to the chase,
Like Baal, when his prophets howled the name
From morn till noon on Carmel's smitten height."
Nay, peace, I shall behold before the night,
The feet of brass, the robe more white than flame,
The wounded hands, the weary human face.

-- Oscar Wilde, E Tenebris

Sufjan + the Innocence Mission =

Sufjan Stevens covers The Innocence Mission's song "The Lakes of Canada." The IM happens to be one of my favorite bands, and Sufjan Stevens happens to be one of my favorites as well. Thus, this combination is heavenly in my opinion.

Moreover, "The Lakes of Canada" has such rich and hopeful lyrics with vivid imagery. I love the image of joy being like a fish, a sudden light. How many times this song has given me comfort.



Look for me another day.
I feel that I could change,
I feel that I could change.
There's a sudden joy that's like
A fish, a moving light;
I thought I saw it
Rowing on the lakes of Canada.

Oh, laughing man, what have you won?
Don't tell me what cannot be done.
My little mouth, my winter lungs,
Don't tell me want cannot be done.
Walking in a circle of a flashlight
Someone starts to sing, to join in.

Talk of loneliness in quiet voices
I am shy, but you can reach me,
Rowing on the lakes of Canada
Rowing on the lakes of Canada. - The Innocence Mission

Listen to the original here, and then go support the IM by buying their albums.

The Innocence Mission - Lakes of Canada (mp3)