Performed and produced by Bob Forbes. Licensed by Legacy Productions, Inc. # LPL063378
Lyrics
Who shall dare to sing the praises
Of the gallows tree whose limbs
Bore the carpenter of Nazareth,
Tree whose wood was bore by him?
Sing as his dear blood and spirit,
Mingle with the air and earth,
Make the tree a new creation,
Recreate the universe.
Mighty is the arm of Caesar
Who to God's own name pretends.
Strong the iron of the arrow,
Stronger still the oak that bends.
Christ's the empire unlike others,
All must put away the sword.
Here the king becomes the servant.
He who washes feet is Lord.
Rising from the earth to heaven,
Stretched between the mud and stars,
Terrible in pain and purpose,
Beautiful the wooden bars.
Rooted in the glades of Eden,
Tree that shaped the saving ark,
Light your frail human burden:
He the light undimmed by dark.
Better one life than the nation,
Argue those who plot and arm.
Guarding their civilization,
Violence and threats of harm.
Thus are prophets voices silenced,
Privilege that fears its loss
Summons servants of the violence,
Forges nails and builds the cross.
Love's astounding transformation
Gilds the instrument of death,
Love confounds sophistication,
Takes away the cynic's breath.
Ever shunning power and glory,
Love has stripped the cross of shame,
So God saved the human story,
Taking human flesh and name.
Rising from the earth to heaven,
Stretched between the mud and stars,
Terrible in pain and purpose,
Beautiful the wooden bars.
Rooted in the glades of Eden,
Tree that shaped the saving ark,
Light your frail human burden:
He the light undimmed by dark.
Lifted up his heart laid open,
Robbed of breath his body torn,
Still his arms recall the rainbow
Promising a world reborn.
Gazing on the cross look upward,
'Til his heart arrests the glance,
And his arms direct us outward
To the world with healing hands.
Rising from the earth to heaven,
Stretched between the mud and stars,
Terrible in pain and purpose,
Beautiful the wooden bars.
Rooted in the glades of Eden,
Tree that shaped the saving ark,
Light your frail human burden:
He the light undimmed by dark.