The Arcadian Wild: website | YouTube
Dear Lincoln, Isaac, and Bailey,
My wife Candace and I watched Andrew Peterson’s virtual Easter Monday show. It was so moving in that Andrew’s music and reflections always seem suffused with hope in the new creation. Your music is a natural fit, amplifying that wavelength. We very much enjoyed your appearance on his Christmas tour last winter, and were delighted to see you with him again this spring. I was simply overwhelmed by the resilient beauty and articulate vision of the three songs you performed (“Wandering in the Wild”; “Where God comes to Rest”; and “Benediction”).
Your lyrics stand on their own. Simply as poetry, I would gladly read them avidly and repeatedly. They have the depth and staying power of Bruce Cockburn or Annie Dillard. Yet they are animated in a special way through your masterful instrumental performances and stunning harmonies. I was emotionally riveted.
Over the period of access to the show on the Mandolin platform (now sadly ended), I went back often to watch all three over again (now how I wish they were on You Tube). “Benediction,” in particular, was a continual encouragement to me because of the way it connected me in dark times to the hope-filled weeks of Easter season.
Your creative work bears the marks of persons made in the image of God who have known much suffering and grief and yet hope in the Lord, waiting for the new creation with both the eyes of the forehead and the eyes of the heart wide open. Thank you, thank you, for your perseverance in your pilgrimage and for your faithfulness in creative art.
Peace
Kerry
“Benediction”
When it seems you’re all but drowning
May the water quench your thirsting
When the sun is nearly blinding
May you, by it, see everything
When your worry leaves you weary
May your sleep be sound and healing
When the road is long and winding
And the wrong story is selling
May you find your own worth writing
When the fairies tell of weeping
May you show them all the glory
When there’s too many to bury
May you know death lost already
When the burden’s beyond bearing
May you know it’s not yours only
When your body’s worn and wasting
And time is only taking
May you find it all worth giving
In the silent war that’s waging
Keep quietly rebelling
When there’s always more to bury
May you know death lost already
When it seems you’re all but drowning
May the water quench your thirsting
When the sun is nearly blinding
May you, by it, see everything
As it was meant to be
A wonder, extraordinary
Made to wander free and fearlessly
Unto all eternity
Because death has lost already
Listen: Website | Apple Music | Spotify
