The Cardinal Dawn is an expression of life in union with God. It reflects the love, reverence, and holy fear of those who believe in Him and trust in His grace rather than their own understanding or efforts. The composition explores the beauty of God’s holiness, the inward transformation of the heart, and the assurance of His abiding presence. Each new morning brings renewed mercy, while His love and faithfulness remain constant through every uncertainty, struggle, and season of life.
Original Composition
The original composition brings together lyrics, melody, instrumentation, and arrangement to express personal experiences, observations, and reflections drawn from different seasons of life. Each work develops its own musical character, conveying meaning through both direct expression and the subtleties of imagery, symbolism, and interpretation.
Guitar Accompaniment
This composition includes a personal guitar accompaniment that follows its key, rhythm, scale, and tempo while allowing room for improvisation and personal interpretation. The accompaniment is part of an ongoing record of musical development, offering an opportunity to exercise technique, timing, phrasing, improvisational ability, and overall musicianship as the compositions and playing continue to evolve.
The Cardinal Dawn
Before the windows gather gold,
Before the earth begins to stir,
I wake beneath a thousand thoughts,
And find You waiting in their blur.
The questions left from yesterday,
The judgments I mistook for sight,
Lie scattered where my pride gave way
To something deeper than the night.
And all the things I thought I knew
Grow strangely small beneath Your gaze.
My restless heart has nowhere left
To hide its shadows from Your face.
O Love that brings me to my knees,
O Fire that searches through my soul,
I tremble where Your mercy breathes,
And yield the things I cannot hold.
Let every hidden altar fall,
Let every lesser kingdom fade.
My heart is Yours beyond recall,
Beneath the cardinal dawn.
I’ve walked the halls of borrowed truth,
And weighed the words of wiser men.
I’ve sought the boundaries of Your Church,
Then searched my own heart once again.
How easily the mind enthrones
The fragile measure of its sight.
Yet through the hours I called my own,
Your Word was burning in the night.
I love the One whose holiness
Makes every secret thought appear.
I dread the thought of grieving You,
Yet find no darkness where You draw me near.
O Love that brings me to my knees,
O Fire that searches through my soul,
I tremble where Your mercy breathes,
And yield the things I cannot hold.
Let every hidden altar fall,
Let every lesser kingdom fade.
My heart is Yours beyond recall,
Beneath the cardinal dawn.
When all my arguments are ash,
When every borrowed crown is dust,
When even faith feels faint and small,
You are the One in whom I trust.
Not by the strength within these hands,
Not by the vows these lips have made.
The wounded hands that purchased life
Are all the refuge I can claim.
O Love that brings me to my knees,
O Fire that makes the fallen whole,
Your holiness is terrible,
Your mercy reaches through my soul.
Let every hidden altar fall,
Let every lesser kingdom fade.
My life is hid with Christ in God,
Beneath the cardinal dawn.
The windows fill with amber light.
The shadows leave the eastern wall.
And where I knelt before the night,
The morning finds me after all.
Still Yours.
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