"Ah, Romance And Perspective" by Zoe Fitch.

There is some music that is just plain good for the soul. The music I am talking about has the ability to touch the mind because it is intelligently written and kind-spirited, in touch with God's creation - without becoming idolatrous. Zoe Fitch is a Canadian artist from New Brunswick who manages to write spiritually minded music about communion with nature, relationships with other people, and with God. Her love for God and others comes across as sincere without being trite as she embraces topics such as suffering, the sovereignty of God, relationships, fidelity, nature, joy and pain.

The simple acoustic guitar melodies with occasional secondary instruments such as drums, or cello create calm and beautiful spaces for reflection and appreciation for life. My wife and I have turned on the songs before night to help us center ourselves in Christ, in appreciation of the closing of the day and the gifts that we have experienced from those around us, from God's creation. Some nights though I am unable to fall asleep because the songs tell great stories of love, hope, and trials and as the songs are sung and woven it is as if a bard is telling them and I must hear the stories one more time. Some of the songs have a wee bit of distortion that comes from the production, but that only adds to the beauty of owning a piece of art that you can't find unless someone recommends it to you.

I highly recommend this album. You will be moved and touched by its beauty.

As far as I can tell you cannot get the songs on iTunes. But you can Google her to hear some samples of her music. And perhaps you can find an email to mail her and buy one of the CD's.  You can hear some of her songs here.

~Pastor Ben

What if the prophets of our ages were also the poets? What if the Psalmist of our day sang out these words as a cry for help?

“God save us everyone

Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns

For the sins of our hand

The sins of our tongue

The sins of our father

The sins of our young”

What if the prophets, and chosen ones, were not only the ones who pointed to God because they knew God perfectly, but pointed to a longing for God, a longing for redemption, a longing for something higher, better, something that looked more like love and less like death. What if the existential truths these prophets were singing, perhaps involuntarily by the grace of God, were preparing our youth for the truth that God was going to reveal to them at later date. Might their prophetic voice sound like this?

“Waiting for the end to come

Wishing I had strength to stand

This is not what I had planned

It's out of my control…

All I want to do

Is trade this life for something new

Holding on to what I haven't got”

What if the questions that the prophets were singing were a result of God’s gravity of grace pulling them to himself trying to pull them out of their desperation, out of the dark and cold, trying to make the blind so that they can see, and the lost so they could find a home. Would their questions sound something like this?

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?

You build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known

Remember all the sadness and frustration

And let it go. Let it go

And in a burst of light that blinded every angel

As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars

You felt the gravity of tempered grace

Falling into empty space

Our youth and kids need the freedom and truth spoken to them, like some confessional priest, telling them the fact that they can “let it go. Let it go.” This prophetic voice coming from the band Linkin Park offers honest questions, and honest truths: 1) "It" (our life is) out of my control in some instances 2) We all feel the gravity of tempered grace when we might rather have absolute immediate deliverance from our problems 3) There are things we have to let go 4) When life offers you blindness, “love can give you kindness.”

I have not listened to all the songs on this album yet – and purposely want to write about first impressions – perhaps ignorant first impressions because often how you first feel about an album reflects how you interpret it – though the interpretation can certainly mature as you reflect on it longer.

The album, which has great bass beats, is meant to be played in a rolling stereo system (for example, my Xa Scion) with a good subwoofer. The music is probably aimed at kids who are 15-25 but can be appreciated by the older sets of people 25-40 that like bands like Coldplay, Snow Patrol and U2 – at least that is me…knocking on 40. The album is composed of sweeping melodies, nice driving beats, rap-like riffs, guitars, big drums, and some electronic loops thrown in. Several of the songs have explicit lyrics which I didn’t buy cause of the kids in my house, and because though they may hold great truths (I don’t know cause I didn’t buy them) I wasn’t, right or wrong, willing to go there this day.

It is a good album, at least the songs I bought. The Requiem, Waiting for the end, Iridescent. The Catalyst. The Messenger.

"When life leaves us blind

Love keeps us kind It keeps us kind" - Linkin Park