More than the pain of torture,
More than the pain of loss,
Or of his friend’s betrayal
As he hung upon the cross,
Was the pain of separation
From the love above all loves,
That He’d known His whole existence
On His throne in heaven above.
And yet when sweating blood
In apprehension of this course,
He knelt before His Father,
And said, “Not my will, but Yours.”
We’ll never fully grasp the depth
Of his self-sacrifice
To free us from the pit we dug
By paying that great price.
When branches paved a holy road,
The stones cried out in praise,
Proclaiming the arrival
Of the great Ancient of Days.
His power held back, his glory veiled,
And yet a glimpse bled through
Of He who shines through all that’s good
And beautiful and true.
The echoes of creation
Renewed in noble song;
Acclaiming the approaching king
They’d waited for so long.
Did they known his true nature,
His purpose, or his plan,
Or what another crowd would chant,
To the great shame of Man?
When my two angels braved the lake
To laughs and shouts of glee,
Despite the bitter temperature
The morn of Christmas Eve,
It was a fun tradition
That went back many years,
For demonstrating courage
And overcoming fears.
Some braved the cold so stoically
While others gave a scream;
Few lasted half a minute
Before they had to flee
Back to the shore to dry and warm,
Share greetings of the season
When One braved a greater shock
For a far nobler reason:
Descending from His heavenly throne
To be a helpless babe,
Amidst the cold and stench and filth
And aiming for the grave,
Where He would buy us with his blood
An open path to Him,
Where we can share His glory,
And His love is everything.
Earlier this week, in between dropping off some of my children at a club meeting, buying some groceries and going back to pick them up, I sat in a local shopping mall with nothing to do and nowhere to be. A great peace washed over me as I sat in between two market stalls and watched the people hurrying about, so I started to document the experience in verse:
An Island of Serenity
An island of serenity amidst the milling throng
All around me darts a world to which I don’t belong,
Convinced a slice of heaven can be found here on a shelf,
Or else at least a key to unlocking your true self.
Calming Christmas music wafts down the glassy walls,
Drifting over harried workers at the market stalls,
The peace that washes over me warms me to my core,
Giving me a foretaste of that Life that lies in store
When my time down here is done and Your face I shall see,
And you give me the great prize that you won at Calvary.
Your love is so unmerited, so shockingly divine,
It seems so insufficient to just give you all that’s mine;
Give me an opportunity to be a blessing here,
A broken soul with eyes to see and a listening ear,
That a fellow traveller might find the hope you give,
Find rest from all his mortal woes and truly start to live.
As is now tradition, I am posting my advent series on the Sundays of Advent. Below is the English version, followed by the Czech translation
Iron Sunday
Nations crushed by iron wheels,
With gladii and oblong shields,
As far as human eyes can see
Reigns Caesar unopposed, supreme.
He sees himself as a great god
To rule all with an iron rod.
“My empire has been built to last
My might will never be surpassed.”
But soon That Day will come.
Železná neděle
Železná kola národy drtí,
oválné štíty a čepele smrti.
Kam oko člověka dohlédne, vidí,
Císař je bezmezný vládce všech lidí.
Jist si je nade vše svou božskou rolí,
železnou vládne všem pěstí a holí.
“Pevně jsem zbudoval říši svou věčnou,
vládnu jí mocí nekonečnou.”
Však brzy již vzejde ten den.
This song is adapted from an upcoming collaborative project with Anthony Marchetta, and also commemorated my twenty-first wedding anniversary last week. (a new version of the video with improved audio has now been uploaded
Options for downloading or listening via major online stores and streaming services can be found here as soon as they become available:
Lyrics, Melody, arrangement, vocals, mixing and video editing by Ben Zwycky.
Czech subtitles are also available, translated by Petr Mares.
Marriage Vow
When two souls are joined as one,
The wise are moved to tears,
For they foresee the blessings
That will flow down through the years.
The bonds of love we treasure
And honour all our lives
Repay us without measure;
Through love our souls revive.
This is my marriage vow
That I’m declaring now,
Before the people here,
As they applaud and cheer:
I promise faithfulness,
And utter openness,
To heal our brokenness
With playful tenderness;
I’ll always stay with you,
Faithfully pray with you,
Whatever trials may come,
We’ll work to overcome.
You are my joy,
You are my peace,
In the shelter of your heart I find release.
We’ll raise our children
To love the Lord,
To know His Word and stand up to the world.
When we get tired
As we grow old,
Your love will still mean more to me than gold.
When two souls are joined as one,
The wise are moved to tears,
For they foresee the blessings
That will flow down through the years.
Manželský slib
Když se dvě duše spojí v jednu,
moudrým vstoupí slzy do očí.
Vidí, že zde pramení požehnání,
Pro řadu nadcházejících let.
Když je nám pouto lásky vzácné
A ctíme ho celý svůj život,
Naše odměna je nezměrná.
Láska dá život naší duši.
Toto je manželský slib,
Jímž se zde dnes zavazuji,
Před všemi těmi lidmi,
Co nám tu tleskají a radují se.
Chci slíbit věrnost
A úplnou otevřenost,
Jež zahojí naše rány
Hravou něžností.
Zůstanu vždy při tobě,
Budu se s tebou věrně modlit,
Ať nás potká jakákoli zkouška,
Společně v ní obstojíme.
Jsi mou radostí,
Jsi mým pokojem,
Ve skrytu tvého srdce se cítím volný.
Společně vychováme děti
v lásce k našemu Pánu,
aby znaly jeho Slovo a dokázaly čelit světu.
A až budeme jednou unavení,
Až přijde stáří,
I pak pro mě bude tvoje láska cennější nad zlato.
Když se dvě duše spojí v jednu,
moudrým vstoupí slzy do očí.
Vidí, že zde pramení požehnání,
Pro řadu nadcházejících let.
Today is my wife’s birthday. I wrote a song with a simple melody for it so that our two youngest could sing it together with me for her.
When Mummy hears this little song, she might begin to cry;
It tells her how we love her and lots of reasons why:
Cuddles before breakfast are the best start to a day;
And as far as we can see, it’ll always be that way.
So many things you cook for us with skill and lots of love,
Experimental recipes we’re so glad you thought of;
Creative crafts and projects that help us to create
Many clever, pretty things that we can imitate;
Fun businesses and startups that bless so many hearts:
Bouncy castles, candy floss, embroidered works of art;
Plays on words and running jokes that add that extra spice,
All in all, our precious Mum, life with you is so nice.
A kiss goodnight that sends us off to all the sweetest dreams;
Your love can work such magic that’s limitless, it seems;
You remember lots of things that we need every day,
So remember, we love you in lots of different ways.
Today is the 22nd anniversary of the first time I contacted the girl who became my wife. Here is the song I wrote and sung for the occasion last night.
There’s a certain precious magic in communication
When distant souls discover they are close;
Two lonely hearts that have their homes in separated nations
Take a chance, and thus a friendship grows.
That friendship can plants seeds of love that sprout and grow and bloom,
And multiply the joys and stakes of life,
Until the two stand side by side as blushing bride and groom,
Forever to be joined as man and wife.
I’m so glad I started down this path that led me to your heart
And grew my soul immensely on the way,
So I’ll do my utmost to always play my part
In blessing you, my treasure, every day.
The Devil rested on his laurels
Knowing that he’d won;
He’d arranged for God’s own people
To kill his Only Son.
“His wrath is unavoidable,
He’ll cast them all away,
I’ll drag them down to join my fate,
Despairing all the way.
“The great plan of his creation
Has failed so utterly,
The thought of all those screaming souls
Fills my heart with glee.
“What other torments can I plan
For the fools who followed the Son of Man?
They fled the scene and failed the test
When my time came with his arrest.
“Now they cower, now they hide
In locked rooms fully terrified
Of my next great show of power
As morning breaks this very hour…”
Then the ground shook, the curtain tore,
The stone was rolled from the entrance door,
Angels stood and told the news;
His soul was utterly bemused.
“How can this be? He’s back to life!
And thrown the gates to heaven wide,
So any sinner can approach
The throne of God without reproach!
“He used the scandal and the shame,
Humiliation and the pain
To pay the price for what went wrong,
Instead of where the blame belongs.
“All my scheming, all my work
To drive the human world beserk
Has come to nought, my power’s broke,
How dare he twist my twisted joke
“Into something beautiful and true
That cure’s man’s ills and will renew
His bond with his creator God
So all will call him Saviour, Lord?”
And so the Devil did retreat
Ashamed by his complete defeat,
His mandate over Man revoked
For those who choose to bear Christ’s yoke.
My failures stand before you,
Adding to the weight
Of your burden on the cross
When you took my fate.
As they drove the nails in
You did not rage or curse,
Determined in your task to save
The entire universe.
As your lifeblood flowed away
You looked to other’s needs:
Your mother’s care, forgiveness
For those who did the deed,
And most of all to pay the price
In anguish of your soul,
Separated from His love,
So we could be made whole.
Let me not forget your grace
In all I try to do;
The thing that everyone on Earth
Needs most of all is You.
The Zwyckyverse 