How to find grace in a broken world

A beloved song, a text to my son, and a reminder that the sacred is hiding in plain sight

If you’ve been reading the Quiet Life for a while, you know that I often turn to the art of Odilon Redon, to explore spiritual mysteries. Here he is again, with “Jacob Wrestling with the Angel”

One of the great joys of parenting, as any mother or father will tell you, is passing on to your children the things that you love best.

So imagine how happy I was when my 15 year old son, a football player with nerves of steel (those come from Ken’s side of the family, ha), fell in love with Leonard Cohen’s famous and magisterial song, Suzanne. Whenever we have a long drive together, he plays it for us, and we listen in a reverent hush.

Sometimes, though, he asks me what the song means. And until now, I didn’t have a great answer. But the other day, I sat down to study the lyrics…and realized that the song is way more beautiful than I knew.

And that it’s the ultimate guide to finding grace in a broken world.

My son was out of town at the time, so I texted my interpretation to him. I thought you might like to have it, too.

But first, here’s the song:

And here are the lyrics. As you’ll see, Leonard really was a poet first:

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover

And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind.

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror

And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind.

Odilon Redon, “La Barque”

And now here’s the interpretation I sent to my son. I screenshotted our texts, just to preserve the moment:

So there you have it, dear reader. The sacred and the broken are forever intertwined. And now you know where to look: among the garbage and the flowers.

As always, I’d love to know what you think:

*Did you know this song before today’s post? Do you love it too?

*What are your thoughts on the bittersweet nature of reality?

*I should actually also ask whether you agree that reality is bittersweet in nature?

And any other thoughts you’d like to share!

*

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PS If you want to read my book BITTERSWEET, you can find it here.

And here’s one final work from Odilon Redon - this time, his “Underwater Vision”:

Odilon Redon, “Underwater Vision”