The Earthmaker plans to send an incomparable Child to the earth that needs Him in a poetical allegory by author Calvin Miller, A Symphony in Sand.

Ah! Isn't that title a thing of beauty?

Having read the previous book in this trilogy, I already had a feel for the author's style. Still, there were times I got lost in this second allegory and couldn't see the point behind certain developments.

But then haunting passages would grab me and resonate, like:

Hate is bread—baked slowly
In the oven of our narcissism
And eaten with such haste
That we devour our hands,
And never notice till
We reach to touch what we adore
And find our fingers gone.

My goodness. Think about it.

And of course, given the core of this story, the characters sometimes break into ebullient song:

"The vast Earthmaker, cosmic in His Grace,
Has locked Himself within a little space."

"Let every mountain range declare with joy
The lion roars and God is born a Boy."

Readers who'd appreciate a combination of biblical fiction, fantasy, and poetry would do well to check out this author's work. ( )