"The only song that can set Terra free"

In 1975, pastor, professor, and writer, Calvin Miller penned the beginning of what would become the The Singer Trilogy. It is a mythic, allegorical, and poetic retelling of the New Testament. Not something you encounter every day! If you’ve never read the trilogy, I highly recommend it. Here is a lengthy quote from the first volume, The Singer, which sets the stage for the Troubadour’s coming:

“The Father and his Troubadour sat down
Upon the outer rim of space.
"And here, My Singer," said Earthmaker, "is the crown
Of all my endless skies—the green, brown sphere
Of all my hopes." He reached and took the round
New planet down, and held it to his ear.
"They're crying, Troubadour," he said. "They cry
So hopelessly." He gave the little ball
Unto his Son, who also held it by His ear.
"Year after weary year they all
Keep crying.
They seem born to weep then die.
Our new man taught them crying in the Fall.
"It is a peaceless globe. Some are sincere
In desperate desire to see her freed
Of her absurdity. But war is here.
Men die in conflict, bathed in blood and greed."
Then with his nail he scraped the atmosphere
And both of them beheld the planet bleed.
Earthmaker set earth spinning on its way
And said, "Give me your vast infinity
My son; I'll wrap it in a bit of clay.
Then enter Terra microscopically
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 dwindling 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, The Singer: A Classic Retelling of Cosmic Conflict


 

In the Face of Inadequacy

“Do not God's visitations unnerve us? But why? Because He never comes to us without asking us to do something. We never know what He will ask of us, but we know that we will be overwhelmed by our feelings of inadequacy.”
― Calvin Miller, The Christ of Christmas: Readings for Advent

It’s a good thing God’s outcomes don’t depend on our abilities. If that were the case, a young virgin from Nazareth would not have been selected as Jesus’ mother. A poor carpenter would not have been chosen His earthly father. The Bethlehem shepherds would not have been assigned to deliver the Good News. And so on.

After the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her this thing she will have to do, and after he tells her about Elizabeth’s own miraculous pregnancy, Gabriel says,

“For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)

That was the ESV. I love the way the NIV puts it: “For no word from God will ever fail.”

Mary was probably overwhelmed by her own inadequacy at this point. Even if I had heard an angel say “fear not” repeatedly, I would not have believed any of this was possible. And so Gabriel adds one more layer to help seal the deal. No word from God will ever fail. Nothing is impossible with God. Not His well-laid plans, not our mustard-seeds-can-move-mountains prayers, not the aligning of all things for the perfect fullness of time (Galatians 4:4).

If, like Calvin Miller—and a great many saints like him—God’s visitations unnerve you, then know that is not a reflection on any weak faith. It is a confirmation that we stand on holy ground before an all-powerful God. The things He calls us to are usually beyond our abilities. They will probably be more than we can handle. But if we trust the Instructor, then we can trust that He will see whatever thing to completion.

Yet, like those in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith,” we may not ever see the completion of what God has asked us to do. How absurd would it have been for Mary to claim she wouldn’t carry Jesus unless she was promised that she would get to see Him “reign over the house of Jacob forever.” Or if the shepherds were like, “Nah, we’re not going to go into Bethlehem and tell people about this baby unless we see some proof of this whole peace thing.”

All by ourselves, we have inadequate faith (and gumption/courage) to do most things that God would ask of us. Praise God, faith is not built on sight, but on an assurance in the One who’s very messengers repeatedly tell us, “Fear not. Be not afraid.”

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.

An Advent quote by Calvin Miller

Calvin Miller (1937-2012) wrote many books and devotionals, but some of his greatest work is The Singer trilogy, a poetic allegory of Christ. This quote comes from the first volume, by the same name.