Considering I am critical of most Christian music, it’s only fair to note that Andrew Peterson’s “Dancing in the Minefields” is a welcome exception, a gentle and moving departure from the power ballads that dominate Christian radio.
Peterson’s song is a quiet meditation on the challenges of marriage, recognizing the mysterious, enduring power of love:
Well I was 19, you were 21
The year we got engaged
Everyone said we were much too young
But we did it anyway
We got the rings for 40 each from a pawnshop down the road
We said our vows and took the leap now 15 years agoWe went dancing in the minefields
We went sailing in the storms
And it was harder than we dreamed
But I believe that’s what the promise is for
The song’s emotional heft arises from the restraint of Peterson’s vocals, the simplicity of its arrangement, and its grasp of love as more than sentimental fluff (though the video is more sentimental than the song itself). Love is hard. Love is humbling — oh so humbling. It is difficult, and the work never ends:
Well “I do” are the two most famous last words
The beginning of the end
But to lose your life for another I’ve heard is a good place to begin
‘Cause the only way to find your life is to lay your own life down
And I believe it’s an easy price for the life that we have found
There’s honesty here, a recognition of our ongoing challenges amid our perpetual hopes for the future — our sense of living in the already and not yet. The space where grace resides. Though Peterson does not use the word covenant, it is that understanding of love as a promise — a covenant — that permeates the song. Such a promise is an anchor when all else is coming apart, and it is a beacon that shows the way through the minefields of love. Yes, there are wounds along the way, but the journey is worth the risk:
So when I lose my way, find me
When I lose love’s chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith to the end of all my days
when I forget my name, remind me‘Cause we bear the light of the Son of man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadow lands
Till the shadows disappear
‘Cause He promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of this chaos baby,
I can dance with youSo let’s go dancing in the minefields
Lets go sailing in the storms
Oh, let’s go dancing in the minefields
And kicking down the doors
Oh, let’s go dancing in the minefields
And sailing in the storms
Oh, this is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that’s what the promise is for
That’s what the promise is for
Signs of Grace 