Daily Word of Grace # 257 (June 7, 2021)
The penultimate song of Bob Dylan’s 1975 masterpiece album Blood on the Tracks is the hauntingly beautiful song about something each of needs from time to time “Shelter from the Storm,” a song about a cynical burned out traveler being invited to rest: “’Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood. When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud. I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form. ‘Come in,’ she said, ‘I’ll give you shelter from the storm…Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved. Everything up to that point had been left unresolved. Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm. ‘Come in,’ she said, ‘I’ll give you shelter from the storm…I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail. Poisoned in the bushes and blown out on the trail. Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn. ‘Come in,’ she said, ‘I’ll give you shelter from the storm.” The gracious recurring refrain of the unnamed lady in this song always reminds me of the gracious invitation Our Savior continually extends to all of us, especially when “burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail”: “Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). “Come in,” Jesus said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”
Love and Prayers,
Dave