The following is an article that first appeared some time ago in Worship Leader Magazine.

Personally, there’s a lot in here that resonates pretty deeply with me. I know Brian and appreciate the humility from which he writes and the passion he has for the church to rise above mediocrity and kitch. This open letter will likely aggravate some but it’s well worth reading and discussing.

-Steve B.

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Open Letter to Songwriters - by Brian McLaren

Greetings, fellow songwriters, fellow worshipers, fellow leaders in worship, fellow musician/artists, and fellow followers of Jesus.

 

FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS, I have been privileged to be “on the road” a lot, speaking mostly with young emerging leaders. I suppose I was asked to speak to them because of some over-forty quota system, and also because many emerging leaders are grappling with the issue of postmodernity, an issue I lost most of my hair grappling with myself— and about which I have written some books. Back home, I am a pastor serving a church that has committed itself to enter the postmodern transition and deal with its issues boldly and confidently. I say “boldly and confidently” knowing that there are as yet no maps to guide a church in this adventure—so we have no real idea where we’re going except that we’re trying to follow Jesus. I guess we feel very much like the children of Israel having left the Egypt of modernity and crossed the Sea into the unknown wilderness…we’re trusting that a God-sent cloud-pillar and fire-cloud will guide us by day and night.

One of the side benefits of travel—as a musician myself, I have truly enjoyed hearing dozens of worship bands and worship leaders, and spending literally hours at almost every event being led in worship. There are many observations and affirmations I could imagine sharing with you who are worship leaders.There are so many encouraging trends, along with a few persistent problems. But one observation stands out. It is actually a request more than an observation: a request for the songwriters among us to explore and then lead us into some new lyrical/ spiritual territory.

One hears a lot of complaints about lame music, trite lyrics, theological shallowness, etc., etc., in the world of contemporary Christian music. Some of these complaints come from people who secretly wish we would go back to singing hymns, like they did back in the -50s (18- or 19-, your pick). I am not interested in complaining, and have little interest in the -50s (except maybe the 2050s).

No, here’s what I’m after: Many of us believe that we are entering (or well into) a significant theological/cultural/spiritual transition period, very possibly as significant historically as the reformation period, when the medieval world gave way to the modern world. Now, as the modern gives way to the postmodern world, we should expect to see a revolution in theology (in the end, helping us be more Biblical, more spiritual, more effective in our mission—and, please God, more clear about what our mission is). But here’s the rub.

In the modern world, theology was done by scholars, and was expressed in books and lectures. In the postmodern world, many of us believe that the theologians will have to leave the library more often and mix with the rest of us. And the best of them will join hands and hearts with the poets, musicians, filmmakers, actors, architects, interior and landscape designers, dancers, sculptors, painters, novelists, photographers, web designers, and every other artistic brother and sister possible… not only to communicate a postmodern, Christian theology…but also to discern it, discover it. Because one major shift of this transition is the shift from left-brain to whole-brain, from reductionistic, analytic rationalism to a broader theological holism—a theology that works in mind and heart, understanding and imagination, proposition and image, clarity and mystery, explanation and narrative, exposition and artistic expression.

Our songwriters could play a key spiritual role in the rooting of this more holistic theology in our people.

But sadly, as I have sat in scores of venues listening (and usually participating in) extended times of worship around the country, I have sensed that our song lyrics are too seldom leading us into this new territory. They are in some ways holding us back. Please, please, don’t hear this as criticism, but as a suggestion—a gentle but heartfelt request—for change.

Let me make this specific: Too many of our lyrics are embarrassingly personalistic, about Jesus and me. Personal intimacy with God is such a wonderful step above a cold, abstract, wooden recitation of dogma. But it isn’t the whole story. In fact—this might shock you—it isn’t, in the emerging new postmodern world, necessarily the main point of the story. A popular worship song I’ve heard in many venues in the last few years (and which we sing at Cedar Ridge, where I pastor) says that worship is “all about You, Jesus,” but apart from that line, it really feels like worship, and Christianity in general, has become “all about me, me, me.”

If you doubt what I’m saying, listen next time you’re singing in worship. It’s about how Jesus forgives me, embraces me, makes me feel his presence, strengthens me, forgives me, holds me close, touches me, revives me, etc., etc. Now this is all fine. But if an extraterrestrial outsider from Mars were to observe us, I think he would say either a) that these people are all mildly dysfunctional and need a lot of hug therapy (which is ironic, because they are among the most affluent in the world, having been blessed in every way more than any group in history), or b) that they don’t give a rip about the rest of the world, that their religion/spirituality makes them as selfish as any nonChristian, but just in spiritual things rather than material ones.

I don’t think either of these indictments are as true as they would sound to a Martian observer; rather, I think that we songwriters keep writing songs like these because we think that’s what people want and need.The scary thing is that even though I don’t think these indict- ments are completely true…they could become more true unless we take some corrective action and look for a better balance.

It’s embarrassing to admit, but some of us are thinking right now, “If spiritual songwriting is not about deep, personal intimacy with God, what else is there?”

Let me offer a list of Biblical themes I think we would do well to explore in our lyrics:

1. You’ll be surprised to hear me say “eschatology” first—and let me assure you that I don’t mean putting the latest apocalyptic novel to music. (Please! No! Not that!) By eschatology (which means study of the end or goal towards which the universe moves), I mean the Biblical vision of God’s future which is pulling us toward itself. For many of you, raised like me in late-modern eschatologies, you’ll be surprised to hear that there is a whole new approach to eschatology emerging (led by some theologians like Walter Brueggeman, Jurgen Moltmann, and the “theologians of hope”).This approach doesn’t indulge in “modern” charts or shaky predictions. Rather, it bathes itself in the Biblical poetry of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Revelation…poetry which, when it enters us, plants in us a vision of a world very much different from and better than ours. And when this hope grows and takes root in us, we become agents of it.What joy I can imagine being expressed in songs that capture the spirit of Isaiah 9:2-7, 25:6-9, 35:1-10, 58:5-14! Who will write those songs?

They need to be written, because people need hope.They need a vision of a good future.They need to have in their imaginations images of the celebration, peace, justice, and wholeness towards which our dismal, conflicted, polluted, and fragmented world must move.This is much, much bigger than songs about me being in heaven. It’s not about clouds and ethereal, other-worldly imagery. Dig into those passages, songwriters…and let your heart be inspired to write songs of hope, songs of vision, songs that lodge in our hearts a dream of the future that has been too long forgotten…the dream of God’s kingdom coming, and God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

2. You may be equally surprised to hear me suggest that we need songs of mission. Many of us believe that a new, larger sense of mission (not just missions, and not just evangelism, but mission—participating in the mission of God, the kingdom of God, which is so much bigger and grander than our little schemes of organizational self-aggrandizement) is the key element needed as we move into the postmodern world.

This strikes at the heart of our consumeristic culture, which is “all about me, all about me, me, me.” Jesus came not to be served, but to serve…and as he was sent, so he sent us into the world.The very heart of our identity as the church in the new emerging theology is not that we are the people who have been chosen to be blessed, saved, rescued, and blessed some more.This is a half-truth heresy that our songs are in danger of spreading and rooting more and more in our people—inadvertently, of course. No, the heart of our identity as the church in the new emerging theology is that we are the people who have been blessed (as was Abraham) to be a blessing, blessed so that we may convey blessing to the world.

For many of us, the world exists for the church. It is like a strip mine, and people are mined out of it to build the church, which is what really matters. In the new emerging postmodern theology and spirituality, that image is terrible. It mirrors the raping and plundering of the environment by our modern industrial enterprises. In it, the church is another industry, taking and taking for its own profit. How different is the image of the church as the apostolic community, sent into the world as Christ’s hands, feet, eyes, smile, heart.We need songs that celebrate this missional dimension—good songs, and many!

For inspiration, we have to again go back to Scripture, and read the prophets, and the gospels, and engage their heart for the poor, the needy, the broken. Shouldn’t these themes be expressed in song? Don’t they deserve that dignity? As I write, I am struck by this thought: perhaps we have so over-emphasized the role of songs in worship—to the exclusion of many other liturgical options (poetry, historic prayers, silence, meditative reading, etc.)—that we have forgotten the role of song in teaching. Remember Colossians 3,where Paul talks about singing the teachings of Christ to one another in songs of the spirit?

3. You may be equally surprised to hear me recommend that we rediscover historic Christian spirituality and express it in our lyrics. As Robert Webber,Thomas Odin, Sally Morgenthaler, and others are teaching us, there is a wealth of historic spiritual writings, including many beautiful prayers, that are crying for translation into contemporary song. Every era in history has rich resources to offer, from the Patristic period to the Celtic period to the Puritan period. On every page of Thomas a’ Kempis, in every prayer of the great medieval saints, there is inspiration waiting for us … and when we look at the repetitive and formulaic lyrics that millions of Christians are singing (because that’s what we’re writing, folks), the missed opportunity is heartbreaking. These “alien voices” will stretch our hearts and enrich them immeasurably … and eventually, these voices will become the voices of friends, of brothers and sisters, because that is what they are—if we invite them into our worship through songs.

4. You will likely be less surprised to hear me say that we need songs that are simply about God…songs giving God the spotlight, so to speak, for God as God, God’s character, God’s glory, not just for the great job God is doing at making me feel good. And similarly, we need songs that celebrate what God does for the world—the whole world— not just for me, or us. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read
the Psalms, because they love to celebrate what the Lord does for the whole earth, not just the people of Israel. Many of the songs we need will also celebrate God as Creator…an important theme in Scripture, but not for most of our churches.We have lacked a good creation theology in the modern era, and we need songwriters/artists and theologians to join together in the emerging culture to celebrate God as God
of creation, not only 15 billion years ago (or whenever) but today, now…the God who knows the sparrows that fall, whose glory still flashes in the lightning bolt, whose kindness still falls like the morning dew, whose mysteries are still imaged in the depths of the ocean and the vast expanse of the night sky.

5. I should also mention songs of lament.The Bible is full of songs that wail, the blues but even bluer, songs that feel the agonizing distance between what we hope for and what we have, what we could be and what we are, what we believe and what we see and feel.The honesty is disturbing, and the songs of lament don’t always end with a happy Hallmark-Card-Precious-Moments cliché to try to fix the pain. Sometimes I think we’re too happy: the only way to become happier is to become sadder, by feeling the pain of the chronically ill, the desperately poor, the mentally ill, the lonely, the aged and forgotten, the oppressed minority, the widow and orphan.This pain should find its way into song, and these songs should find their way into our churches. The bitter will make the sweet all the sweeter; without the bitter, the sweet can become cloying, and too many of our churches feel, I think, like Candyland. Is it too much to ask that we be more honest? Since doubt is part of our lives, since pain and waiting and as-yet unresolved disappointment are part of our lives, can’t these things be reflected in the songs of our communities? Doesn’t endless singing about celebration lose its vitality (and even its credibility) if we don’t also sing about the struggle?

While I’m at it, may I offer a few stylistic observations and requests—again, not trying to be critical, but trying to be helpful, and to offer ways which you, with your gifts, can better serve the church and our mission in these transitional times? I’ll offer them in the form of some questions.

First, may I suggest that we fully and finally get over King James English in our new lyrics, even if we choose to retain it in our old? Enough said.

Second, may I suggest that we be careful about using gratuitous Biblical language—Zion, Israel, go forth, on high, etc., etc.? If there is a good reason to use such language—in other words, if we are using it intentionally, not just for a “spiritual feel,” then fine. Otherwise, if we can find contemporary language and imagery that would communicate more crisply, poignantly, immediately, and deeply to people who don’t already have a lot of pew time…then let’s use it, in the spirit of I Corinthians 14, where intelligibility to the spiritual seeker is a gospel virtue.

Third, may I suggest that in an era of Columbines and Islamic fundamentalism, we be careful about the language of jihad and holy war? I suppose there is a time and place for that, but I don’t think this is it.We all need a strong dose of Anabaptist peace right about now, in my opinion.

Fourth, musically, am I the only one wishing for more rhythmic variety? Why is it that I am being blessed so much by creative drummers and percussionists wherever I go?

Fifth, can our worship leaders enrich the musical experience by reading Scripture, great prayers of the historic church, creeds, confessions, and poems over musical backgrounds? You may not like rap music, but it’s trying to tell us something about the abiding power of the spoken word, the well-chosen spoken word that is. (We have far too many less-than-well-chosen spoken words already, I think you’ll agree.)

And finally, can our lyricists start reading more good poetry, good prose, so they can be sensitized to the powers of language, the grace of a well-turned phrase, the delight of a freshly discovered image, the prick or punch or caress or jolt that is possible if we wrestle a little harder and stretch a little farther for the word that really wants to be said from deep within us? Sadly, while many of our songs have better and better music, but the lyrics still feel like “cliché train”–one linked to another, with a sickening recycling of plastic language and paper triteness.

Isn’t our God, our mission, our community worthy of more lyrical quality than we are offering so far?

Thanks for considering these things. I hope this will be the beginning of an important and ongoing conversation.

Your fellow servant,

Brian McLaren

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produced by dave zeglinski

story and song vol. 1

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…intro Psalm 40 …fat and flourishing Fresh and Green …go forth and multiply Marie …romance and reality That’s Alright With Me …censoring the laments How Long …pick up the phone Psalm 32 …in closing Lauds

For years folks have been asking for recordings of the stories I tell along with the songs I sing. I have always been reticent to do this sort of project but Dave Z. finally convinced me it would be a good thing. So last year, with the generous support of a friend, we purchased some mobile recording gear and started recording concerts. Then, Dave sat down and listened to the dozens of concerts trying to find performances worth remembering - poor guy.

I have to admit, I can’t think of a more tedious job than doing sound for the same artist for years on end. Dave has probably sat through close to a thousand concerts of mine, and then to think he had to wade through some 60 concerts to cull and compile one CD is beyond my comprehension.

Anyway - it’s odd to me that I’ve come to be known as a storyteller. I played for years in nightclubs and hardly spoke a word. Then one night I found myself on an outdoor stage performing solo for a public church event. For some seemingly random reason, I opened my mouth and started telling stories -

 

 

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produced by steve b. and dave z.

my dinner with bruce

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Lord of the Starfields Wondering Where the Lions Are Red Brother, Red Sister Going to the Country All The Ways I Want You The Coming Rains Pacing the Cage Thoughts on a Rainy Afternoon Southland of the Heart Closer to the Light My Lady and My Lord God Bless the Children Love Loves You Too

This project was a labour of love. I have been a fan of, and inspired by the music of Bruce Cockburn ever since a friend introduced me to his music in 1976 with the album Circles in the Stream. Circles is a live concert recording containing songs like Lord of the Starfields, All the Diamonds,Dialogue With the Devil and God Bless the Children. It is, to this day, probably the single most influencial recording of my life.

It’s hard to know what has most caught and kept my attention all these years. Initially of course I was enthralled by Bruce’s guitar playing. I had never heard fingerstyle like that before. Cockburn’s unique combination of rootsy, bluesy Canadiana absolutely enthralled me.

Bruce’s social conciousness perplexed and energized me as well. My father was a prison chaplain, so already I would have been somewhat attenuated to those sorts of issues, but I had never heard them in song, and certainly not in "christian" song which (in those years) usually celebrated an individual connection to God through Christ rather than a re-connection to all things in Christ.

I was also facinated by the obscurity of the poetic lyric. Obscurity is not something we Evangelicals easily appreciate. We tend to want to bring all things into the plain light and in doing so, lose the linguistic capacity for mystery.

Finally, I absolutely came to love the angular beauty of Bruce’s melodies. Bruce is a great and unique melody maker and I guess I’ve loved this music because it doesn’t sound like everyone else’s. This music has an oddly dark beauty that rings true for me.

Anyway… for these and other reasons I’ve paid close attention to Bruce’s music over the years and several of his songs have attatched themselves permanently to my story, as songs tend to do. Recently, after a particularily sad and disorienting year, I found myself retreating to old albums, like one returns to old familiar haunts in order to re-anchor. Suddenly, I wanted to record an album of several of these songs. I picked the ones I felt I could make "my own" and proceeded to record "My Dinner With Bruce."

This was a fun project - moreso than usual I think because they weren’t my songs so I didn’t have the usual stress about wondering if the material was any good - I was confident in the material. Also, finding my own interpretations of the music was an energising process. Initially I was a bit tentative about doing so, but I had a chance to meet briefly with Bruce during the project and he encouraged me to "bring something knew to the table."

I spent several days in Toronto recording Kevin Breit (Holly Cole, Norah Jones) whose musicality and skill is outrageous. I also got spend a day in Los Angeles recording lengendary percussionist Alex Acuna (Weather Report/ Leo Kottke). And, of course, Mike Janzen’s creative input in the early stages helped drive the arrangements to places I would not have gone on my own.

Another highlight for me during this project was working rather intensely with my son Jesse who engineered much of my guitar work and vocals. Jesse was an invaluable ear and coach - he has great intuition.

Finally, I must say that I was intensly proud of the mixes Dave Z. pulled off. There is a warmth and presence to this recording that is rare these days. I’m a blessed man to have such talent interested in my work.

In the end, I will admit that I’ve never had dinner with Bruce and don’t expect to. I suspect his life is full and is not looking for a new best friend. My relationship to Bruce has been through music. We have met several times and he is always extremely gracious and encouraging. After the CD came out, someone in the press asked him what he thought of this album. He said something quite complimentary and then said he felt I had honoured his songs without being a slave to his interpretations. I was very happy for those particular words.

 

reviewed by Bill Moller

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produced by steve b. and dave z.

solace

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Disc One Psalm 90* God Our Protector Remember Me Burning Ember Shepherd of Life* How Long Dark Night of the Soul Moon Over Birkenau Ever Present Need Wings of an Eagle* Hear Our Prayer* Deep Calls to Deep* For the Journey Hymn Medley * newly recorded versions

The Solace Project began when an friend, who was then dying of cancer, sent us an email to say that he had compiled several of my songs on a CD and was using it for pain management and comfort. He wrote in his diary,

I want to see a ’sustaining’ CD from Steve Bell, a compilation that would help those who are dying and those who love them.

Ben, had gone as far as to list which songs he thought would be best and had even thought through possible packaging scenarios for a CD.

It occurred to us at Signpost that this could be a meaningful project and so we went ahead an put SOLACE together.

Some of the songs from earlier albums were sounding rather dated up next to the more recent, so my son Jesse and I went into the studio to re-record several songs including, Wings of and Eagle, Hear our Prayer - among others (see * in list above).

It also occurred to us that such a project would be enhanced by including a second disc containing the content of an audio magazine I hosted several years ago called Can God Be Trusted. This disk contains a collection of interviews, songs and book reviews all revolving around the place of God, and indeed the trustworthiness of God given situations of suffering and loss.

We’ve also set up a way to accept donations toward the project so that we can simply give it away to hospital chaplains, hospice workers, pastors, lay care-givers and others who accompany those who are suffering. To date (spring 06) we’ve raised enough money to give away over 5000 copies.

If you would like to contribute, please visit www.solaceproject.com for more information and details.

Someone left this marvelous quote on the Solace website:

It is a great sadness when sufferers seek relief by sparing God his sovereignty over pain. The sadness is that this undercuts the very hope it aims to create…pain and loss are bitter providences. Who has lived long in this world of woe without weeping, sometimes until the head throbs and there are no more tears…? But oh the folly of trying to lighten the ship of suffering by throwing God’s governance overboard. The very thing the tilting ship needs in the storm is the ballast of God’s good sovereignty, not the unburdening of deep and precious truth. What makes the crush of calamity sufferable is not that God shares our shock, but that His bitter providences are laden with the bounty of love.

-John Piper

 

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produced by steve b. and dave z.

sons and daughters

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In the Morning Hosea (Come Back to Me) Ever Present Need We Believe in Love I’ll Fly Away Psalm 116 Getting Ready for Glory Everything’s Lies Air Jam Subtle Shiver Lauds Feelin’ Groovy

This is quite possibly my favorite recording so far. Right around Sarah’s (my daughter’s) 18th birthday we decided to do an album together. Sarah sang a song on the Simple Songs album a couple of years before, and people responded quite enthusiastically to her voice. I just wanted to hear her sing some more and have the chance to do something meaningful with her before she flew the coop.

We recorded in the early fall of 2003 and toured together with Mike Janzen (piano) and Gilles Fournier (bass) across Canada over the next year. Jacob Moon joined us for the first part of the tour and I will always remember it as the best of times. Mike, Gilles and Jacob are terribly funny and the three of them together on the road kept Sarah and I laughing hard most of the waking hours.

The album itself was named Sons and Daughters (not Fathers and Daughters) because it signified (to me anyway) that we were now peers. Although I’ll always be her dad, we were now relating together as adults.

 

 

Reviewed by Steve Best / Cross Rhythms UK / December 1, 2004

This collection features daughter Sarah and continues the extremely high quality we have come to expect from a man described - quite rightly in my opinion - by Billboard magazine’s Larry LeBlanc as "…a Canadian musical treasure." All selections here are beautifully performed and arranged, particularly the jazzy treatment given to the traditional "I’ll Fly Away". Carolyn Arends has contributed "Getting Ready For Glory", written about Steve’s grandparents who were missionaries to China, while "Subtle Shiver" comes from a 17 year old babysitter, showing remarkable maturity. Steve’s superb guitar playing is to the fore throughout, but is really given a chance to shine on the fabulous "Air Jam" instrumental. Things come to an all-too-soon close with a perky reading of Paul Simon’s "59th Street Bridge Song", which features Steve’s sons Micah and Jesse on guitar, bass and lead vocals, while a final hidden track features a four year old Sarah singing a snippet of a hymn. This really is a superbly crafted and performed album, perfect late night music, and truly inspired.

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Below is the narration I wrote for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank film of Nanci and my trip to Ethiopia. I’ll be filming a bit more this weekend and then the producer will begin to piece together the documentary.

I am quite exited about the END HUNGER FAST campaign to be launched this fall. I am increasingly convinced that there is no program to end hunger that will work in the long run unless we in the west voluntarily divest of some of our wealth and reduce our consumption drastically - hence Fast. Its a conviction I didn’t expect to come home with, but just giving money is not enough. I’ve begun to seek ways of using less, consuming less, eating less - I’ve all but stopped using my car and am going to sell it right away. I’m getting used to the bus system in Winnipeg and walking to places where I can.

It all seems so small and insignificant but our grossly disproportionate use of the world’s resources, mostly for pleasure, novelty and convenience is really hurting people in other lands. It’s hurting ourselves as well. Last week the news said that 60% of Canadians are overweight. The health costs to the government of an overweight population is enormous. Our government claims it can’t afford to meet it’s commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goals, while our health costs as a result of our own immoderation far exceed what we have committed (but apparently can’t afford) to combat world poverty.

What a fitting metaphor - here we are, sluggish and portly from empty calories - overweight and starving at the same time. Like a snake that doesn’t realize it’s eating its own tail.

 

 

My trip to Ethiopia began… with a fast.

Among other things, I was seeking direction from God regarding my growing awareness and concern around issues of World Hunger. As a Christian in an age of unprecedented wealth, how do I respond to the reality of millions people without adequate food, without adequate water? How do I find my way through the often contradictory or politicized solutions put forward to address an issue that, in the end, is really a crisis of justice and of love?

So I decided to enter into a fast, and I wanted it to be a fast that would constantly remind me to pray.What could I give up that would draw my attention throughout the day?

I decided to fast from coffee.

A month later, I receive a call from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank asking my wife Nanci and me to visit several development projects they sponsor in Ethiopia. Of course I was delighted at the opportunity to visit such a mythical, lengendary land, but I burst out laughing when I found out that Ethiopia was also the geographic place of origin for the coffee tree.

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Although Ethiopia is home to some of the poorest people in the world, what struck us first was the profound beauty of the land and her people. I had no idea! My images of Ethiopia were formed by media pictures of famine back in the early 80s. I remembered expansive wasteland, withered trees and withering bodies. Nothing in me was prepared for the wealth of breathtaking grandeur and loveliness that awaited us around every bend.

Ethiopians themselves have a strong beauty appropriate to their landscape. There is a grand tranquility and charm of people and land here that generates a curious longing and ache in a visitor like me.

77 million people living in an area 1/10 the size of Canada; children everywhere – playing… threshing…herding goats… returning from school hand in hand with books in arm. Always ready with an eager smile and a chance to practice their English on a foreigner – most requesting a pen to help them with their schoolwork.

Our first stop was a base camp in the Afar Desert.

Here 1.6 million pastoralists are facing the end of their traditional nomadic way of life as a result of climate change. For centuries this arid region has sustained the Afar people and its millions of goats and cattle. It has not been an easy life, but it has been a good life. Recently however, the frequency of drought has dramatically increased and the land is no longer capable of sustaining her people without some kind of intervention.

Under the guidance of an energetic group of young Ethiopian agricultural and engineering professionals, the Afar people have built a water weir on this meager river, diverting some of its water down a 5 kilometer irrigation ditch, effectively turning thousands of acres of dry land into a rich agricultural resource. Having never been farmed, the soil is wonderfully fertile – just add water and a little crop rotation know-how, and what was desert becomes a sustainable resource of glorious food. This is the first bumper crop – more than is locally needed. For the first time, these new farmers have the happy problem of getting their excess food to market.

Elizabeth coordinated the first irrigation project. She comes from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city and has a degree in agriculture. At first the Afar men said that a project like this would never work if lead by a woman – but in her own shy, determined manner, Elizabeth proved them wrong. The result has been a bit of a cultural revolution in the community as women now sit on councils they have never sat on before.

The initial project has been so successful that a second one is now underway some ten kilometers down river. The workers come by the hundreds every day. They are paid in food supplied by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to build a structure and new way of life that will eventually render such aid unnecessary.

This is a real cause for celebration! In the evening I was given the opportunity to sing some of my songs – and we were given the opportunity to receive the gift of song and dance in return.

We also visited a project in South Gondar – half way across the country from the Afar region.

Here, again, a group of dedicated young Ethiopian professionals are working with the community to rehabilitate tired, over farmed and badly eroded hillside with a multi-faceted program of reforestation, terracing and check dams to halt and reverse the damage of erosion. Crop rotation programs help to replenish the soil.

Most farm families are surviving off the harvest of 2 to 5 acres of land. With the population of Ethiopia expected to double in the next 20 years, any loss of arable land or soil fertility is a crisis.

Mobilizing the people with a food for work program supported by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Ephraim oversees the building of roads, construction of terraces, water harvesting, the rehabilitation of gullies and reforestation for firewood and construction.

Only a few years ago, these hills were stripped of trees and the soil was eroding at an alarming rate. The result of the work here has made sustainable livelihoods possible.

Back at the camp – a nursery produces 4.5 million seedlings a year. Again, a food for work program supported by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank employs many to plant, water and nurture the very trees, grasses and crops that will become their own livelihood. This is a soup to nuts project:

Some harvest seeds…

Some sift and mix soils …

Others make soil plugs…

Some plant…

Others water…

The result seems miraculous;
Olive trees… foraging grasses… sorghum…corn…

Food Security is not something that worries the average Canadian citizen. We don’t think much about it much at all. It is readily available and as a result we are free to invest our time and energy into relationships, personal development, business, invention, leisure and culture. It is not so for those whose labor can be undone by a single year of drought. It is not so for a country whose prime labor force is being decimated by AIDS, a disease which is greatly exacerbated by malnutrition. It is not so for a country whose stability has been undermined by internal warfare, the residual effects of colonization, unfair international trade rules, unsupportable debt and paternalistic aid that sometimes meets the needs of donors more than recipients.

Hunger is real, but it is not inevitable. Nanci and I witnessed amazing commitment, and thoughtful, sustainable solutions as a result of the work that Canadian Foodgrains Bank supports.

We also witnessed how far a little support goes. Roughly $35 can feed a family of five for a month. And that is certainly something that we can do. But here I also began to understand that our own lifestyle back home is an obstacle to long-term solutions. In Ethiopia, a family lives off of the fruit of less than five acres. In Canada, it takes roughly 30 acres per person to support our present lifestyle. Shockingly, for every human on earth to enjoy the same lifestyle as we do at home, would require the resources of 5 more earths.

So for me, what started as a fast will continue to be a fast; learning to live with less, learning to live more simply so that others can simply live. And I invite anyone who wants, to join me on this journey. Besides offering others a chance to contribute to the welfare of others financially, we have also set up a website to discuss and promote ways of living that show our kinship with all whom God loves.

Jesus once referred to himself as the bread of life. This is the same man who first appeared to us as a baby in a lowly feeding trough. While in Ethiopia, I suddenly recalled, with a sense of inspired urgency, that after his resurrection, several of Jesus’ friends didn’t recognize him until they began to share a meal. There is a profound connection between hunger and the gospel. Simply put, Christ is revealed in the sharing of bread, or perhaps, we are most like Christ when we share bread.

The kingdom of God is a banquet…

So gather what you can and come to the table…

It’s time for everyone to eat.

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produced by steve b. and dave z.

waiting for aidan

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Eventide Jesus My Glory Pleasing to You Somebody’s Gotta Pay Restless The Water Runs Diamonds From the Other Side Waiting for Aidan A Sorrow for Connoisseurs Oh Love Psalm 121 Stay Awake Eventide (reprise)

Reviewed by Steve Best / Cross Rhythms UK / December 1, 2004

From three years ago comes this absolute gem from the awesomely talented guitarist cum singer/songwriter. Things get off to a spectacular start with the fabulous acapella "Eventide" (reprised at the album’s end on acoustic guitar) - a truly breathtaking opener. Steve’s acoustic guitar talents are never far from the surface, and he is joined by a fine array of support musicians including Chapman stick expert and label mate Fergus Marsh, along with Phil Keaggy who contributes some delicious electric guitar parts on a couple of selections - most notably on "Jesus My Glory". Steve draws on a range of lyrical inspirations, including ancient prayers and psalms, and throughout this is supported by wonderful arrangements and fine sensitive performances. In all, utterly wonderful.

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produced by steve b. and dave z.

simple songs

 

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Peace Prayer Done Made My Vow We Come What Kind of Love is This Come Thou Long Expected Jesus/ Be Thou My Vision/ Great is Thy Faithfulness (instrumental) Fresh and Green Fox Glove High Above the Fray Unto the Least of These Down the Way God Our Protector Home All the Diamonds For the Journey

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produced by Steve B. and Dave Z.

Steve Bell Band in Concert

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Ready My Heart Comfort My People Burning Ember Hear Our Prayer The Wellspring/ Holy Lord Wings of an Eagle I Feel the Winds of God Today Drumheller Circle (story and song) Shepherd of Life (Psalm 23) Here by the Water Call Home Deep Calls to Deep

This live recording is culled from several concerts recorded across Canada in 1999. I had the immense priviledge of touring with Fergus Marsh (bass and chapman stick/ Bruce Cockburn, Mark Heard), Hugh Marsh (violin/ Bruce Cockburn, Loreena McKinnett) and Greg Black on drums.

In the mid-90s I signed a deal with Rhythm House Records for distribution of my music in the United States. Rhythm House first compiled several of my songs on a CD called Beyond a Shadow and released it in the States as my premier release. Then they took my live CD, renamed and repackaged it as Each Rare Moment and released it in the U.S. as my sophomore project. After my deal with Rhythm House came to an end, we inherited several thousand copies with this cover and so if you purchase this album, you may get either cover. The content is the same.

Each Rare Moment - U.S. version of Steve Bell Band in Concert

Reviewed by Mike Rimmer / Cross Rhythms UK / June 1, 2000

Steve Bell has been much heralded in these pages and on UCB radio simply because he is an anointed songwriter and all round good egg! It was a shrewd move for Steve to steal Bruce Cockburn’s backing band and even shrewder that he recorded this live set with them! Bell’s gentle folk songs take on a new life when he has the Chapman stick-playing Fergus Marsh adding some rhythmic fluidity to the proceedings. Of course adding into the mix Greg Black’s sensitive drumming and the wonderful violin of Steve Marsh and this live album is cooking! The whole setting is a perfect vehicle for a run through Steve Bell’s most popular songs and some examples of his dry sense of humour. It’s worth buying this just to hear him tell how prisoners in a Canadian jail taught him to play guitar! Steve’s trademark understated approach is well executed here with the band never crowding in too much on the gentler material. But then hearing the band in full flow on "Comfort My People" or "Hear Our Prayer" is just sheer joy but they really let loose on the encore "Deep Calls To Deep". If you haven’t yet discovered Steve’s integrity-filled inspiring songs, this intimate and creative setting takes them to another level.

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produced by steve b. & dave z.

beyond a shadow

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Here By the Water Remember Me Wings of An Eagle Psalm 40 Never Mind How Long Burning Ember Ride On King Jesus Shepherd of Life The Wellspring Holy Lord This is Love

Beyond a Shadow is my first release into the United States. I signed a deal back in 1998 with now defunked Rhythm House Records who were then a young upstart record label out of San Antonio New Mexico.  I had just released Romantics and Mystics in Canada but we were warned that the conservative nature of the Christian Bookstores in the US would react negatively and unsupportively to a word like ‘mystics’ in an album title. Rhythm House suggested we compile the best of my first four albums into one, releasing it as a premier album in the US and as a "best of" album in Canada - and Beyond a Shadow was born.

The album did ok in the US considering that Rhythm House was new and I was unknown. Wings of an Eagle became a bit of a hit on Inspirational Radio as did Here by the Water and Psalm 40. But it soon became evident that to succeed in the market place in the States required commitment to a whole set of values and sacrifices I was simply resitent to. I think Rhythm House found me frustrating - they really were a great bunch.  But Dave and I soon learned just how ‘Canadian’ we were - and that was a bit of a liability if we expected the kind of success that a Label recording should strive for. I think  we eventually realized we had no business in that  millieu unless we were able to more fully embrace and support the whole Christian Music machinery. 

We released one more recording with Rhythm House a year later. In Canada it was a live album called Steve Bell Band in Concert.   Rhythm House re-named and re-packaged it in the States as Each Rare Moment which performed relatively poorly in the US. Our relationship with Rhythm House lost energy and we eventually (and aimably) pulled away. 

Since that time, Dave and I have fully settled into the idea of remaining more of a small, independent, grass-roots company. There is a certain level of success that is probably unnatainable this way - but it suites us.  We are both very happy for the experience and loved the folks we met.

Reviewed by Mike Rimmer / Cross Rhythms UK / April 1, 1999

After selling a bucket load of albums independently in Canada, it’s about time that Steve Bell received a wider distribution for his inspirational brand of acoustic pop and here it is. A compilation of his finest moments designed to launch him into the American marketplace. For those of us who discovered his music through UCB Europe airplay, some of this stuff is familiar but it’s just great having it all on one CD! From the hit worship song "Psalm 40" through the Paul Simonesque melodies of how "How Long" and the folky vibes of "Drumheller Circle" or the stacked harmony vocals of "Ride On King Jesus", this compilation gives you the story so far from Steve Bell. As you’d expect from this kind of affair, some of the production values waver slightly on the older material but one thing shines out from all of this, Steve Bell has talent and a pure heart to communicate Christ. It’s amazing he’s comes this far without wider coverage and to choose the small but perfectly formed Rhythms House Records is a shrewd move. Just wait for this to introduce him to a new audience and then expect some new material!

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