Body and Wine

I write a blog, first and foremost, as a place to work out my own faith. There are times when the best way to sort out what is going on is to spill out emotions and words. The first draft makes little sense. The edits make it a learning process. On a really good day those thoughts also help someone else. Meditation on the words of others can be a great way to stir up this practise and there are many times when I turn to Jars of Clay. “Body and Wine” is one of those songs that has not yet revealed to me its full meaning. I meditate upon the words and sometimes something comes clearer. There are real questions here. There are real questions that need an answer: “What if this was all that we were made of; . . . all that we could make of love? If there wasn’t more, I wouldn’t be here.” What if humanistic science tried to tell us that we were only a collection of carbon, water, and trace elements? What if that was all that we were made of? If there wasn’t more, what would keep me here? What would make this earth worth staying for? If it’s been a while since I was king, is there someone else who should be on the throne? Hero or crime? Hero and crime? Body and wine.

Body and Wine

(Listen while you read)

Rusty ground and dusty roads

It's been a while since you were king

Undermined and overthrown

You tried to run it on your own

Forget the birds with broken wings

Under piles of things on things

No one stops and no one stares

Seen it all and no one cares

What if this was all that we were made of?

This was all that we could make of love

If there wasn't more, I wouldn't be here

Hero and crime, body and wine

Drove my heart toward the sea

Passed the graves up over hills

Saw the spires hit the ground

Voices raised without a sound

What if this was all that we were made of?

This was all that we could make of love

If there wasn't more, I wouldn't be here

Hero and crime, body and wine

Hero and crime, body and wine

What if this was all that we were made of?

This was all that we could make of love

If there wasn't more, I wouldn't be here

Hero and crime, body and wine

What if this was all that we were made of?

This was all that we could make of love

If there wasn't more, I wouldn't be here

Hero and crime, body and wine

Hero and crime, body and wine

Body and wine

Words & music by: Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell, Stephen Mason, Matt Odmark

Produced by: Jars of Clay

Commenting on the song “Loneliness and Alcohol,” Steve Mason (one of the members of Jars of Clay) said, “Everything matters . . . there is always something artful to be said.”