On episode 16, we played a song that Jack wrote in response to our series on the book of Ruth. Here is a recording of his song and its lyrics. We’ve also included a picture of Jack playing the song on his harmonium.
“Ruth and Boaz”
by Jack Baumgartner
daughter of my dreaming
mother of my homeland
husband of my sorrow
there is famine in our bones
it is hard to understand
it is easy to know it
but it is hard to understand
I stood out on the borders
with a stranger in my hand
the curse showed signs of lifting
but the bitterness still stands
the water seeps from Eden
we reached and then we fell
we always cry towards heaven
while our road creeps down to hell
it is hard to understand
it is easy to know it
but it is hard to understand
So, I named one field Boaz
I named the second Ruth
I even named one Obed
I am mapping out your truth
the crops weave in the earth
a strange and rooted tapestry
of how death leads back to birth
the blood cries out forever
it has got a lot to say
from a dance back in the garden
to the threshing floor today
the heart sows in the flesh
it is an ember in the ark
the spirit circles around the broken things
and mends them in the dark
it is hard to understand
that the fountain never wavered
she's only buried in the sand
we had a child together
we shared a dirty cup
we sowed the seed of loneliness
and a tree of life sprang up
the messiah of the cosmos
bent a mighty timeline
a circle in the bedrock
such a great and awful sign
it is hard to understand
it is easy to know it
but it is hard to understand
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