The New Redeeming Song

When I was younger, I was introduced to the writings of Calvin Miller through a little red Advent devotional we would read each evening. Later, I read The Singer trilogy, and my appreciation for his perspective on faith and the mystery of Christ grew deeper.

Below is a quote from the first installment of the allegorical and poetic narrative about the Earthmaker (God) and his Son, the Singer/Troubadour. I have reprinted the lines just as they are in the book so you can get a little idea of its poetry cadence.

And He said, "Give me your vast
infinity
My son; I'll wrap it in a bit
of clay.
Then enter Terra microscop
-ically
To love the little souls who
weep away
Their lives." "I will," I said,
"set Terra free."

And then I fell asleep and all
awareness fled.
I felt my very being shrinking
down.
My vastness ebbed away. In dwind-

ling dread,
All size decayed. The universe

around
Drew back. I woke upon a tiny
bed
Of straw in one of Terra's
smaller towns.

And now the great reduction
has begun:
Earthmaker and his Troubadour
are one.
And here's the new redeeming
melody--
The only song that can set
Terra free.

- Calvin Miller, from The Singer

A few years ago, I included the following verse from on my Christmas card. It occurs later in the narrative, and it seemed like an odd choice, at the time. But I had just finished reading The Singer, and I was swept up in the beautiful imagery of Jesus as the One whose very being brought forth the song of redemption--in just the way we would understand it.