HomeIgnatian PrayerIgnatian SongsBest Ignatian Songs: Every Grain of Sand

Best Ignatian Songs: Every Grain of Sand

It’s back to Bob Dylan for this week’s Ignatian song.  It’s “Every Grain of Sand,” one of Dylan’s many songs with powerful Biblical imagery. The beauty of this song is in the lyrics.  They depict a man choked by “the flowers of indulgence,” trying to resist “temptation’s angry flame,” sensing God’s presence

Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break.

In the fury of the moment I can see the Master’s hand

In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

It brings to mind the sense of rescue from doom one has in the first week of the Spiritual Exercises.  The Biblical allusions include Psalm 139 (God’s designs “outnumber the sands”);  the Parable of the Sower (newborn seed, weeds), and Matthew 10 (not one sparrow falls to the ground with His knowledge).

Dylan is a marvelous poet.  Here’s a performance by Emmylou Harris..

Jim Manney
Jim Manneyhttps://www.jimmanneybooks.com/
Jim Manney is the author of highly praised popular books on Ignatian spirituality, including A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer (about the Daily Examen) and God Finds Us (about the Spiritual Exercises). He is the compiler/editor of An Ignatian Book of Days. His latest book is What Matters Most and Why. He and his wife live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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