The Shade of Your Hand Tom Booth

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Lyrics

1. I fled him in the night and in the day;
I fled him down the arches of the years
and in the lab'rinth of my mind
and in the midst of tears.
2. I hid from him, laughing as I ran.
I hid from him, saying "Catch me if you can,"
and the laughter echoed off steep canyon walls
of gloom and fear.
Refrain
I can't hide anymore,
I can't run from your tenderness and mercy,
for the gloom in me is just the shade of your hand.
3. My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
Up in smoke my days have burst like sunlight on a stream.
Yes, failing now is the dreamer of the dream.
Bridge
Sitting in a dark room,
waiting for the breakthrough of my dream.
Sitting by a night light,
waiting for the daylight of my dream, of my dream.

Text: Based on the poem "The Hound of Heaven" by Francis Thompson, 1859-1907. Text and music © 2004, Tom Booth. Published by spiritandsong.com®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved.

Artist Reflection

"For the gloom in me is just the shade of your hand!" What good news that is! We belong to God. We cannot even possess our own sadness, darkness and longing. It is not ours to own. The hunger, longing and emptiness within each of us is actually a gift from God. Saint Paul says, "All creation inwardly groans..." This groaning and longing from within is why we pray. Actually it is our prayer! Though sometimes we carefully and meticulously pray from a book, or discursively pray with beads, all prayer is a groan from within for God, for truth, for beauty, and for purpose and meaning.

Now, the man who composed the poem entitled, "The Hound of Heaven" of which "The Shade of Your Hand" is based upon, groaned a lot! He was, I am told, a hopeless drug addict. Destitute, addicted, alone, hungry, homeless, and hopeless, Francis Thompson was found living on the streets of London in the late 1800's. He had given up on his life, but God had not given up on him. A good and loving married couple brought him to their home and nursed him back to health. This had to happen more than once, because Francis Thompson was not just far from God, he was running from God! He wanted nothing to do with God, faith, and clean living. Was Francis a bad person? I doubt it. He was probably a lot like many of us: running, doubting, masking, medicating in small or big ways.

"I can't hide anymore. I can't run from your tenderness and mercy. For the gloom in me is just the shade of your hand." Hide and seek. That's the game. We, in our sin or just plain "don't know, don't care" attitude, hide from God. We forget we are in a relationship of Creator and created. We think our life is our own, when really life is a gift from God to be lived for God. And almighty God, the hound of heaven, runs and chases after us. God is passionate about us. God cannot help but love us. God is love! God's nature is to love. And that is why God chases after us.

So like Francis Thompson, we need to get caught! "Catch me if you can" wrote Francis! And was he ever caught! Now his words and his story serve to inspire you and me to say, "I can't hide any more." Hey, it's been tried before -- way before Francis Thompson. Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. That didn't work. God says to us, "I see you!" Just like the little kid with his hands over his face, saying "Try to find me!" He does and he will.

Years ago, in popular Christian talk, people used to say, "I found Jesus!" That always made me smile. It is God who finds us! We are God's people, the sheep of his flock. He will come looking for us time and again. Like the shepherd looking for the lost sheep.

So crank up "The Shade of Your Hand" on your stereo (especially the legendary Phil Keaggy's guitar solo at the end) and sing along. For if you do have any gloom in your heart or mind today, be reminded that God is there protecting you from even worse. Let the gloom remind you that you need grace and mercy, community and sacrament and that you have the love of the "Hound of Heaven"!!

Blessings.

-- Tom Booth