[NARRATION]



Now why this man's soul was bleeding 

The angel had to understand 

So invisible, he stood by him 

And then gently touched his hand 



Which caused the man to stand there still 

Despite the winter's cold 

And while he stood there in that trance 

The angel read his soul 



It seemed the man was not always like 

The man he had become 

And that angel wondered how that change had happened 

And when it had begun 



The man had been born to a kind and religious family 

And raised in the midwest 

And all throughout his childhood 

This man, clearly, had been blessed 



He grew up believing, among other things 

Man was made in the image of god 

He went to school, observed all rules 

While working very hard 



He had always tried to help others 

Excelled at nearly every task 

And when he'd graduated high school 

Of course, he was the first one in his class 



And in his eighteenth summer 

When it was time for him to leave 

He had offers from several colleges 

All of them ivy league 



And at college in all his studies 

He always received straight "a"s 

And when he tried his hand in theater 

He got the lead in the senior play 



It appeared to nearly everyone 

There was no talent that he lacked 

And for three years on the football team 

He was, the star quarterback 



And there he also met the girl 

Who did become his wife 

With her, his world was now complete 

He had the perfect life 



When they had graduated college 

They were wed in a ceremony quite grand 

Then they moved to new york 

In a dream they seemed caught 

Where all had been perfectly planned 



She decorated their park avenue apartment 

In a 1920's art-deco style 

And six months after they had moved in 

She told him, they would soon be having a child 



And after their first ultrasound 

He knew they were having a son 

Their lives could not have been better 

And they had only just begun 



Together they arrived early at the hospital 

On the delivery date 

The father was taking no chances 

And did not want to risk being late 



But while waiting outside the delivery room 

He could tell that something was going wrong 

For too many doctors were rushing in 

With none coming out for too long 



When her own doctor finally came out 

With several nurses at his side 

He said that his wife had started hemorrhaging 

And despite their best efforts, she died 



Then in an effort to console him 

A nurse gave him his newborn to hold 

But from the way the child felt limp in his arms 

He knew there was still more bad news to be told 



The doctor then gave the prognosis 

As gently as anyone could 

But before he could finish explaining 

The father only too well understood 



The child had been cut off from oxygen 

For minutes, which is far too long 

The damage was now irreversible 

His brain permanently malformed 



He'd never hold a job, 

Learn to read or ever talk 

And it would be a miracle 

If the child even learned how to walk 



And with those words the father felt 

His entire world falling apart 

And he stumbled for the words to express 

The tearing inside of his heart 



He cried out, why did god have to take her 

While she was still so young 

And then as if to cut him deeper 

Leave this thing here as his son 



"please explain to me god's wisdom 

How could he decide 

To take from me my precious wife 

While leaving this alive 



There is no reason for this life 

Why does he even exist 

And if he had never been born 

There is no way he'd have ever been missed 



If man is made in god's image 

Then something here is surely amiss 

For there is nothing of god 

Nothing of god 

Nothing of god 

Nothing of god 

Nothing of god in this" 



And then he asked for the child 

To be placed in a state run home 

And after he had signed the papers 

He walked into that night alone 



And in this world he found unkind 

He built a wall around his mind 

And every year he'd add new parts 

Until it had also enclosed his heart 



He kept his job and paid his debts 

As he slowly became a silhouette 

Of a man walking among the tombs 

While living his life within his wounds 



He distanced himself from all his friends 

Even his sisters and brothers 

And as time it went by, he developed his eyes 

So they could only see the flaws in others 



With this final glimpse, the angel stepped away 

And the man shook himself out of his trance 

Then continued his walk back towards his home 

And few would have given his soul half of a chance 



And the angel himself felt helpless 

As he watched that old man there 

So he did what even humans do 

And he quickly said a prayer 



And as the prayer flew to his lord 

The angel did decide 

To carefully follow the old man 

And stay closely by his side 



For on this night can one deny 

The gift of a more sympathetic eye 

To cast upon our fellow man 

And on this night to understand 



The frailty of childhood dreams 

Like fireflies over summer streams 

And if one dared to remove time's veil 

Could one retrace those childhood trails? 



But whispers in the winter's wind 

Told of rescued dreams, forgiven sins 

And who among us shall be deemed 

To rescue some forgotten dream? 



So on this night of christmas eve 

As once again the spirits weave 

Its snowswept dreams and colored lights 

With bits of magic into each life 



And as the snow comes gently down 

Its soul intent to reach the ground 

To cover scars the world still feels 

Perhaps to give them time to heal 



For as men invest in money 

And professors in what they know 

God invests in mercy 

Like winter invests in snow 



[THE WISDOM OF SNOW]



[Instrumental]