The Workings of Grace

Nick Cardilino

1. Wood, glass, and siding were blown everywhere

By the force of the hurricane’s wrath

Some homes were totaled; others were spared

Who could make sense of its path?

Neighbors who’d never spoken embraced on their lots

And Red Cross volunteers set out coffee and cots

Chorus: And in the bars that day was not one drunken man

And human nature put on its best face

Everyone in the county was lending a hand

Oh, the workings of grace, the workings of grace

2. For years, old man Simmons scared kids off his lawn

Hardly cracked a smile in his life

In front of his wreckage he just said, “She’s gone”

Word spread quick that the storm took his wife

Arms were wrapped 'round his shoulders by neighbors who cared

Yet he felt the most love from the kids who came there

Chorus: And in the bars that day was not one drunken man

And human nature put on its best face

When compassion reigns with a powerful hand

Oh, the workings of grace, the workings of grace

Instrumental

Chorus: And in the bars that day was not one drunken man

And human nature put on its best face

Sometimes God’s will is done by human hands

Oh, the workings of grace, the workings of grace

©1999 Nick Cardilino