What The Hammer Holds

The song "The Hammer Holds" always moves me. It's a favorite. The lyrics and vocal are by Bebo Norman. It begins as though a metaphor for a rather common, but challenging, existential and spiritual understanding. But it then turns to the most unique, inspiring, and instructive of stories in the end. And I don't think you have to be a Christian, a person of faith or spirituality, to appreciate the poetry, the beauty and inspiration of Norman's verse.

(Click here or on highlighted title, above, to hear song on YouTube.)

The Hammer Holds  

A shapeless piece of steel, that's all I claim to be
This hammer pounds to give me form, this flame, it melts my dreams.
I glow with fire and fury, as I'm twisted like a vine
My final shape, my final form I'm sure I'm bound to find. 

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little, hurt for me my future is untold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds. 

This task before me may seem unclear
But it, my maker holds. 

And the water, it cools me gray, and the hurt's subdued somehow
I have my shape, this sharpened point, what is my purpose now?
And the question still remains, what am I to be
Perhaps some perfect piece of art displayed for all to see. 

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little, hurt for me my future is untold.
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds. 

The hammer pounds again, but flames I do not feel.
This force that drives me, helplessly, through flesh, and wood reveals
A burn that burns much deeper, it's more than I can stand.
The reason for my life was to take the life of a guiltless man. 

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the pain
And hurt a little, hurt for me, my future is so bold.  

But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds. 

This task before me may seem unclear
But it, my maker holds.

The notion of a metaphor for forging identity in the painful difficulties of life, a process in God's hands, gives way to the clearer device that Norman is using. He has anthropomorphized the forging of a common, rough-hewn nail of 2000 years ago--and he is delivering it--and us--to the cross and crucifixion of Jesus. 

The anthropomorphized nail struggles with its painful forging, simple identity, and purpose in life--and then the sinking realization of the use to which it has been put, which it cannot understand. Norman delivers us to the cross from a most creative and insightful perspective; he does so powerfully, instructively, even inspirationally. He shares how God uses our commonplace identities and painful lives for His purposes in ways we sometimes just cannot understand--but then, refuge and peace is accepted in our faith and trust in His purposes for our lives. And it inspires in me this further reflection:

Even those whose identity is shaped by the most common human experiences, forged in pain by the bluntest instruments of life, fill places and serve purposes unique to them, important to others, and needed by society. They may be marked by humility--although not all are--but they live as well they can, give as much as they can, and care and love with all they are.

Sometimes they are called to serve God or man in ways they may not understand, that those served do not appreciate, and society rarely acknowledges. But they trust in their calling and work. They must. They just are who they are, the best God has to offer. And I hope they can sense God smiling.