Watercooler Wednesday - The Singer Trilogy
(This post is part of the Watercooler Wednesday blog carnival. Check it out and be inspired by creativity from around the world…)
For today’s Watercooler Wednesday, Randy at Ethos posted about books and authors that have impacted him through the years. And he got me thinking about how many books I’d have on my list. There’s one big one that I’d like to highlight today…
The Singer Trilogy by Calvin Miller.
I remember reading The Singer as a freshman at college. And I remember part of its impact was the fact that it was GOOD…and it was CHRISTIAN…and it was written by a CHRISTIAN. I had a pretty dim view of what passed for Christian “art” at that time, and The Singer encouraged me, and showed me that you can be a person of faith and create great art that will stand on its own.
Besides that, the story rocked. It was just a great book.
After The Singer, I devoured the rest of the trilogy (The Song and The Finale). These are books that I come back to at least once or twice a year and enjoy all over again.
And I did have the honor and joy of meeting Calvin Miller.
It’s a long story…the short version is that I was in “the band”, and we were playing at a church in Oklahoma. It was after set-up and before dinner, and I was wandering around the building. There was a hallway set up as an art gallery, which blew me away (after all, it was a Southern Baptist church). And one of the pieces on display was 
Salvador Dali’s “Crucifixion”…what the heck? What kind of church is this? Whatever it is, I like it!
Then I find out that Calvin Miller is the pastor. Wow. That explains a lot.
I got to speak to him a few more times over the years, and have enjoyed many of his other works.
If you’ve never read The Singer, do yourself a favor and get it.
Here’s one of my favorite bits…The Singer has risen from the dead, and a little girl he had healed is asking him about his scars (including the word “LIAR” branded across his forehead)…He assures her that he’s fine, but she looks at his hands and feet and asks…
“But they are scarred and wounded. How can they be well?”
“Earthmaker leaves the scars, for they preserve the memory of pain. He will leave my hands this way so men will not forget what it can cost to be a singer in a theater of hate.”
“But the word…the word they wrote upon your face is gone.”
The Singer reached up to his forehead where the searing iron had left the accusation of the council. The word was gone indeed.
“It is,” he said, “because Earthmaker cannot bear a lie. He could not let me wear the word for He is Truth. He knows no contradiction in himself. So learn this, my little friend, no man may burn a label into flesh and make it stay when heaven disagrees.”
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Comments
These books are great, aren’t they? I wish I could meet Mr. Miller. We did a dramatic interpretation of The Singer at my church about 25 years ago, and I still remember how much fun and how inspiring it was.
I read this a long time ago too and remember really enjoying them (my hubby says he “hated it”!). Anyway, my most memorial part was the healing of the man with the withered hand. I have since given away the books, but every once in a while I wish I’d had a copy to re-read.
I think its very cool you’ve met Mr. Miller.
(coming over from Semi-colon’s blog)
p.s. hubby used to be in a (local) Christian band too and he and I used to be on the worship team together. I’ll have to look over your blog some more.
Great quotes! You’ve got me hooked. I’m going to have to read them.