Dry Leaves Lyrics

In the beginning 

You were full of promise

But it was only that not enough time had passed

And you had not yet learned the art of the excuse

I waited here, under the tree you planted

But your promises are floating to the ground like autumn leaves 

All the bigness and green of spring and summer leached away

You know, you say

I've seen your mound of broken promises in the backyard

Well, I say

Who gave you permission to go digging around

There is a reason they are locked up

Back there I don't have to see that mountain

'Cause how could I even begin to glue those leaves back on the tree 

There we sit.  Me counting the leaves as they fall

You sizing your pile up against mine

Going nowhere

Humans trading green promises that turn brown before we can cash them in

Another leaf falls

Frail with no water to feed it

And another leaf falls

Dry and translucent like a sun bleach poster

Advertising a poetry reading no one heard

Are Your promises like that, Lord 

Made in the ancient days

Copied and translated

Printed and reprinted

Decomposing with each pass

Fading on onion skin paper

So thin it's hard to see

Let alone keep them

Or follow through 

Jesus do You remember where You left me

I put my hand down on the frigid autumn sidewalk

And damp leaves stick to my hands

Are these Your promises

Soaking up the water they craved 

In the days before they dried up and fluttered down

No. This wet stack of leaves aren't Your promises

They look more like they have my handwriting on them

Yours...are different

I remember the heartbeat that stopped in Jesus' chest

I remember the heartbeat that began again

I remember the hundreds of promises 

I remember the hundreds of years 

You worked behind the scenes to put yourself up on the cross

And rehydrate the hope that was parched and lifeless

Oh Lord, You know

You know how I feel waiting, sitting here on the sidewalk alone

The ground is hard and cold and made of concrete

It hurts to be here but You know

Your stone seat came with a rock blocking the exit

Blocking the light, blocking Your father's voice

And still, You never forgot

You never forgot Noah, on that stinking, cacophonous, holy boat

You never forgot Joseph, or Paul stashed away in prison cells

You never forgot Daniel in the living room of hungry lions

You never forget the ones in the fire

They waited

And all the while You remembered them like a precious treasure hidden away

Waiting it's turn

We waited, we thought we had been left behind

But no, we never slipped Your mind

Not for a minute, or a single second

Your promises were never drying and fading

Your promises are crafted from holy covenants

Your promises are etched into the fiber of our being

Your promises were never the leaves to begin with

They are the water

Washing away the temporary travesties

Your promises a sea I can set sail on

They rehydrate and heal my terrified soul and weary bones

They rehydrate my brittle and bitter heart

My hope has no business being set on the promises of my brother

Or in my power to keep all those leaves together.

For ALL the promises of God find their YES in Christ

Cause You have never once

Dropped the ball

Or forgot where You parked the car

You fill our cup

You wash us clean

So through him I say my amen

Let it be so

To the Glory of God