As the Moon – Lyrics

As the moon pulls the ocean
so my soul is drawn to you.
Pull me closer as you circle.
I will fall and rise with you,
and rise with you.

As the tide rocks the beaches
lifting sand as it rolls through,
lift us up into your dancing
we will rise and dance with you,
and dance with you.

As the sand shapes the shoreline,
sculpting all the lands anew,
we will shape the world you’re dreaming
dancing with the rising moon,
the rising moon,
the rising moon,
the rising moon.

©Hand and Soil Music

“As the Moon” is simple, both musically and lyrically, but it took more than a year to write.  It took that long to find just the right words because the song tries to accomplish a good number of things at once.  

First, it is an attempt to use less anthropomorphic language for God.   The divine is imaged as the moon and the waves, rather than being human-like.  

Second, the song is trying to express a concept from process theology: God as lure.  In this understanding, God does not control the world, but lures us toward the kind of world that God desires, like gravity, or the tide.  

Third, the song was trying to capture a sense of intimacy in relationship with God, a sense of passion and “I-Thou” despite the shift away from human-like imagery.  

Fourth, the song is trying to find God by looking in the opposite direction: rather than finding God in the sun, and in a dry, disembodied path, the song looks for God in the moon, in darkness, in water–qualities are traditionally considered to be more feminine qualities.  

Has this song connected with your story?  Or has it been a part of a particular season of your life?  You are welcome to weave another thread into the tapestry of this song by leaving comments below.