Benjamin Holsteen believes that a life spent in pursuit of awe, wonder, and gratitude in the midst of the everyday is the best preparation for an eternity spent in the presence of their ultimate Source. He spends his days thinking, writing, talking, and living out of this conviction, currently as a PhD candidate in Art and Theology at the University of St Andrews. He lives on the edge of the North Sea with his wife and two children. You can find him online from benjamin.omg.lol and subscribe to *Transcendent Mixtapes*—his forthcoming newsletter reflecting in writing on religious life in the 21st century, filtered through a lifetime of obsessive pop music listening—at transcendentmixtapes.substack.com.

How can we sing? 

by Matthew Clark

Our captors cracked their whips and grinned 

Down by the rivers of Babylon

They laughed and mocking bid us sing 

Down by the rivers of Babylon

So we hung our harps upon a withered tree 

Down by the rivers of Babylon

And we gave up songs about being free 

Down by the rivers of Babylon

Pre-Chorus

Oh don’t let our love grow cold

CHORUS

But how can we sing the Lord’s song 

How can we sing about home? 

How can we sing the Lord’s song 

By the rivers of babylon?

We wake up strangers in a foreign land 

Down by the rivers of Babylon

Lord, dry as sand slipping through your hand 

Down by the rivers of Babylon

Pre-Chorus 

CHORUS

BRIDGE

Oh, his love endures forever 

(Lord, don’t hide your face forever)

©2023 Matthew Clark, Path in the Pines Music (ASCAP)