[m/l van Dyk]

Johnny knows why he was spared in Vietnam
God has a reason for his sacrifice
Johnny knows David thinks it all will fall on him
But the message is clear and he knows he has a purpose

The writer descends into the heart of the mine
Down to the bottom of the well of souls
Falling through darkness, bloodied and broken
He spreads the explosives as death takes hold

Johnny stands a final time as his life slips away
Tak screams in anger and commands that he stop
But the heart of the unformed can no longer sway him
And he finishes his life's last task

God can be everything, God can be cruel
Sometimes He makes us live
Carrying a burden for thirty three years
They are no longer his sins to forgive

With the smoke of the ini rising up in the sky
Destroyed by the power of daylight
The four survivors leave the nightmare behind them
And head toward the open highway
In the back of the car sits a folder of photos
Materializ4ed out of nowhere

The handwritten label says they're from David's school
But the writing is in Johnny's hand

Two different lives somehow intertwined
Two vantage points of a parallax view
Heaven and Earth, somehow connected
Giving a glimpse of the eternal truth

As he opened the folder, and pulls out the picture
Young David Carver's astonished
The picture's of Johnny and David's dead sister
Although they have never met

In the picture they're standing on the very street
Where David's friend Brian lay dying in his arms
Written at their feet, are the words First John 4/8
And Mary asks David what it means

God is Love

God can be everything, God can be cruel
Sometimes He makes us live
Carrying a burden for thirty three years
They are no longer his sins to forgive

God can be everything, God can be cruel
Sometimes He makes us live
Carrying a burden for thirty three years
They are no longer his sins to forgive