LYRICS

[ORGAN PRELUDE]
Solem pipe organ

[INTRO - CHOIR]
OH, what a friend we have in Patience Steady through the longest days Holding firm when time instructs us In its slow and steadfast ways.

[ORGAN INTROIT]

[VERSE 1 - SOLO]
I learned it waiting for the downbeat Counting silence like a gift
Trusting something good was coming Even when far adrift
[Call - SPOKEN]
This took some... TIME
[RESPONSE - CHOIR] 
TIME
WAS
PROVIDED

[VERSE 2 - SOLO]
I learned it reading deeper meanings Page by page and breath by breath Sitting still in borrowed wisdom Until in truth it rest-eth
[Call - SPOKEN]
This strained... PATIENCE
[RESPONSE - CHOIR] 
PATIENCE
IS
ORDAINED

[VERSE 3 - SOLO]
I learned it listening to others Finding room inside the sound Letting every voice arrive Before the truth was found
[Call - SPOKEN]
This required... THOUGHTFULNESS
[RESPONSE - CHOIR] 
THOUGHT
WAS
THUS
GIVEN 

[VERSE 4 - SOLO]
I practiced patience with the weather And knowing when to step aside
With clocks that held their own opinions Entirely unlike mine
[Call - SPOKEN]
This was... INCONVENIENT
[RESPONSE - CHOIR] 
CHARACTER BUILDING
WAS
GIVEN

[VERSE 5 - SOLO]
I waited for family consensus
And the perfect moment’s grace Holding silence where decisions lived As time tap-danced on my face
[Call - SPOKEN]
This tested... SO MANY THINGS
[RESPONSE - CHOIR] 
SO
MANY
THINGS
WERE STRENGTHENED

[VERSE 6 - SOLO]
I waited on enlightenment
Checked my schedule, checked again Turns out it prefers to wander Something others call Zen
[Call - SPOKEN]
A Zen Master walks into a bar...
[RESPONSE - CHOIR] 
GOD
WORKS
IN
MYSTERIOUS WAYS

[VERSE 7 - SOLO]
So I practiced patience with myself Which frankly took the most Watching all my best-laid plans Come out an overcooked roast
[Call - SPOKEN]
About that roast... It wasn’t bad, just...
[RESPONSE - CHOIR] 
THINE
ROAST
WAS
DIVINE

[INSTRUMENTAL INTERLUDE]
Full pipe organ swell, choir, rock

[FINAL REFRAIN – SOLO + CHOIR] [ENDING CODA - SPOKEN]
[VERSE 8 - SOLO]
And then I learned the hardest patience The one I still forget
That life is not a rehearsal
And I am not done yet
[Call - SPOKEN] But I’m tired...
[RESPONSE - CHOIR] 
GLORY
BE
FATIGUE

[FINAL REFRAIN – SOLO + CHOIR]
Oh, what a friend we have in patience..
THIS
IS
THE PRACTICE

[ENDING CODA - SPOKEN]
Another year
[CHOIR] WELL SPENT