The Best Song Ever Written

As close as I can figure it, a better song has not been written than "When The Ship Comes In" by Bob Dylan. At least I've never heard one. It's off "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and it hits just as hard every time I hear it.

It is, to me, about the second coming of Christ and somehow resonates with the deepest part of me that believes he will be my rock and my salvation. The part of me that needs someone to fill in the huge, embarrassing gaps. The part of me that simply can't fight anymore.

I believe when that time comes, Christ will be there to peacefully and unflinchingly end the torment that Satan has inflicted upon God's children. And it fills me with profound gratitude to know that there is someone so much stronger than me who wants me around enough to fight for me. The world has a way of picking on you and mercilessly highlighting your limitations. Christ will return full of mercy and will welcome all who seek him. I know of nothing in my whole life that feels more true than this. I wish you were here to see my sincerity. I hope it comes through in my words even half as well as it does in the words from this song.

These are the lyrics:

Oh the time will come up
When the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathin'.
Like the stillness in the wind
'Fore the hurricane begins,
The hour when the ship comes in.

Oh the seas will split
And the ship will hit
And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking.
Then the tide will sound
And the wind will pound
And the morning will be breaking.

Oh the fishes will laugh
As they swim out of the path
And the seagulls they'll be smiling.
And the rocks on the sand
Will proudly stand,
The hour that the ship comes in.

And the words that are used
For to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they're spoken.
For the chains of the sea
Will have busted in the night
And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean.

A song will lift
As the mainsail shifts
And the boat drifts on to the shoreline.
And the sun will respect
Every face on the deck,
The hour that the ship comes in.

Then the sands will roll
Out a carpet of gold
For your weary toes to be a-touchin'.
And the ship's wise men
Will remind you once again
That the whole wide world is watchin'.

Oh the foes will rise
With the sleep still in their eyes
And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreamin'.
But they'll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it's for real,
The hour when the ship comes in.

Then they'll raise their hands,
Sayin' we'll meet all your demands,
But we'll shout from the bow your days are numbered.
And like Pharaoh's tribe,
They'll be drownded in the tide,
And like Goliath, they'll be conquered.

I know that my redeemer lives. That he loves us.
And that he will come again.

Merry Christmas, friends. You're the best.