Curating the Clayfire collection, God’s Grand Work of Art, gave me the chance to write some new music as well as teach my own original songs and songs by others that I love.
Narrative 5 uses the St. Francis of Assisi song, “All Creatures of Our God and King.” The lines, “all you ones of tender heart, forgiving others take your part” came to life in this collection’s context of being God’s works of art. Like the trees and mountains have a part in God’s Life, so does our forgiveness!
In narrative 2 and 6, you’ll find a song by Marty Haugen, a composer of liturgical music:
Bring forth the kingdom of mercy,
bring forth the kingdom of peace.
Taste, and see the kingdom of justice,
bring forth the dreams of God
Ask your own bands to write original versions of the whole song, making it your own (but don’t forget to credit Haugen in onelicense.net if you do base your song on his).
Narrative 3 uses music by Mike Crawford of Jacob’s Well church in Kansas City.
Throughout the collection are several original songs of mine. The one I am most excited about is “Beyond Our Wildest Imaginations”:
for all people of the earth
before all nations of the earth
you’ll be like sands of the earth, making life with Godfrom the west to the east
from the mountains to the seas
like the galaxy’s stars will be your reachroot us here, oh Lord God
show us your heavens God
give us eyes to see and ears to hear
to follow you beyond our fears
beyond our wildest….. imaginations
make us a blessing to the nations
As my take on the “God Bless America and Iraq” bumper sticker, I wrote this song as part of a Genesis series in collaboration with the band at City Church Eastside in Atlanta, GA. I loved the challenge of writing music that reflected the tone of bands like Wilco and Blitzen Trapper that we enjoyed listening to, while also exploring the poetry of folks like Walter Brueggemann who writes, “This is how it is when we praise [God]/ We join the angels in praise, and we keep our feet in time and place… /awed to heaven, rooted in earth.”
The scandal of incarnation is that material things, the bits and pieces of art and life, become more real, local, and consequential. Hopefully the variety of music included in this collection helps you to be incarnational with your music as well.
