In the mid ’90s, Robin invited me to join a women’s study group at her temple. I was the only man there. The idea was to try to put a more positive spin on how women were portrayed in biblical stories. I was so blown away by how smart these ladies were, that group became my muse, my inspiration for this song, another song about Sarah, and two full length plays. I was particularly taken with the concept of midrash, reading between the lines of or adding interlineations to the often sparse and obscure writing in the bible. I included two in this song, Sarah following Abraham and Isaac and bringing the ram, and Abraham extracting from God the promise that he would give humans a shot at forgiveness in exchange for the ordeal God had put him through. Incidentally, both songs are written as if sung by a woman. That helped enormously.
Lyrics
God’s Plan
In the calm of a summer’s night
Dimly lit by the fire’s light
I hear my husband say hineni
I see his eyes implore
And in that moment I knew that he
Is struggling hard, fighting with God once more
I hear God’s voice on the desert breeze
Or in the stream by the olive trees
This means nothing to Abraham
Lost as he is doubt
He’s no different than any man
He needs to have every command spelled out
Every bend in the river’s flow
Every drift in the driven snow
Every mountain every grain of sand
Every woman and every man
Will learn someday
How they fit into God’s plan
He walks off on the desert sand
Leading Isaac by the hand
And I’m thinking I too should go
And keep them both in view
Sometimes Avram’s a little slow
At figuring out what he’s supposed to do
Isaac’s bound and he looks afraid
I see the flash of a silver blade
Now I know why I brought this ram
Out to this barren hill
Quick, I say, go to Abraham
Maybe in you he’ll understand God’s will.
Every bend in the river’s flow
Every drift in the driven snow
Every mountain every grain of sand
Every woman and every man
Will learn someday
How they fit into God’s plan
Abraham doesn’t seem relieved
Fact is he’s looking a little peeved
Adonai you must realize
This time you’ve gone too far
But before you apologize
Let’s you and I talk about t’shuvah
He’s so caught up in what he’s done
He forgets to unbind his son
I free Isaac, at first he’s glad
Then his confusion grows
He looks at me and asks What’s with dad?
I shake my head and answer God only knows
Every bend in the river’s flow
Every drift in the driven snow
Every mountain every grain of sand
Every Sarah, every Abraham
Will learn someday
How they fit into God’s plan.