to shrink His sprawling mystery…

curtis inspiration, new song ,

Lately, I’ve been really getting into the updating of old songs, due in no small part to my recent discovery of a band called Page CXVI.

Then along came this email, with the words to an old hymn that I had never heard before…  Needless to say, these 100+ year old words moved me in a way that most modern music fails to.  I immediately knew that I needed to put them to song.

So I did.

It’s just me and the piano, and it’s somewhat rough and very live-sounding… But I think that simplicity lets the beauty of the words shine through brightly. Give it a listen:

Here are the words:


The truth of God is greater far

 

The truth of God is greater far

Than our poor human mind,

Than any doctrine, creed, or sect,

All partial and confined.

His treasures hold uncounted wealth

That hearts have never heard.

Our boundless God has yet more light

To shine out from His Word.

 

Who dares to limit God Himself

To what we understand,

To shrink His sprawling mystery

And hold it in our hand?

Immensity of purest love!

An ocean unexplored!

Our boundless God has yet more light

To shine out from His Word.

 

O Lord, Your Word is Jesus Christ,

Your truth in us begun,

But O the depths of all He is

And all that He has done!

Let faith and love each day increase

The hunger You have stirred:

May more and more of Christ our Light

Shine brightly from Your Word!

 

Words by Ken Bible and George Rawson (1807-1889)

Music by The Tension (2011)

 

Check out the new song,”Drifting”

curtis Music, new song

I was talking recently about how I had a few new songs in the works.  Last night I finally got the first one ironed out and ready to upload!

So check out the new song, Drifting.  You can check it out on the Music page, or listen to it right here:

My wife came up with the concept of the song, and the majority of the lyrics, then I wrote the music and put it all together. It’s about the heartbreaking issue of homelessness, and it poses some difficult questions about whether or not our efforts are actually helping…

This one really hits home for us, and I’m guessing we’re not alone.

a few new songs in the works

curtis Info, song ideas

I’m hoping to get a new song up here soon, in the next couple weeks.

I actually have a couple in the works, but I need to focus and finish them one at a time. I can get so distracted and scattered, so I’ve got to buckle down and get them done.

I’m pretty excited about them; I hope they turn out as well as they sound in my head. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

Same “tension”, new direction

curtis artsy fartsy, emerging, for me, life, Music, other blogs, postmodern, spirituality, worship

Since I’m still getting some regular traffic on this blog, I thought I’d highlight something new that I’m up to: music

Here’s a little blurb from my new site:

Some days, I’d be perfectly content to just enjoy all the amazing music that’s already out there.  There’s so much of it, what else could I possibly have to add, right?

But other days, it seems like if I don’t create my art, if I don’t make my music and get it out there, I’d be missing the boat on something really important.

So, here I am.  Making my music and sharing it with the world.  I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t care whether you like it or not…  I really do hope you like it, and that it strikes a chord, or a nerve, or something.

A little detail on the name, the Tension.

I’ve always been kind of an idealist.  Which you might think would mean that I am a pretty optimistic guy, but I’m actually not at all.  I’m pretty critical and pessimistic, actually.  That’s what seems to happen when the realities of life come crashing down into the hopes and dreams of an idealist.

I find myself constantly torn between the amazing things that we could do in this life, and the reality that the day to day can be a struggle for many of us.  The heights of human achievement, and the depths of our dysfunction.  Our unfathomable capacity for healing and love, coupled with our seemingly inescapable tendency to destroy and hate.

This is the tension we find ourselves in.  This is where our dreams and reality meet.

This is the Tension…  welcome.

So, thanks for stopping by my blog.  But I’d love it if you’d join me over at my new site as I continue to wade through the tension…

Working on a new song

curtis inspiration, Music, song ideas

One of my favorite music-related blogs is Aaron Niequist‘s.  When I read it, I am often inspired to create, or am exposed to something new and interesting.

Case in point: a recent post titled “a farm without fences” has got my creative juices flowing:

(Africans) think of Christianity as a farm with no fence.  Our question is, ‘Are you heading towards the farm, or away from it?’”

I love the imagery of that… I started writing some lyrics just now, and hopefully it will materialize into a song.

Stay tuned!

This is the kind of stuff that gets me going…

curtis inspiration, Music, thoughts , ,

Seth Godin has so much good stuff to say.  Honestly, it’s amazing.  Here’s something he said recently that really resonates with me and this musical endeavor that I’m setting out on:

“There are six billion people in the world. Even if your market is hand-made spoke shaves for left-handed woodworkers, there are more people in your market than you can ever hope to track down.”

I’ve said before that I struggle sometimes with thinking that there’s so much good music out there already, should I really bother adding my own into the mix?

Posts like this remind me that, yes, I should.  There are so many different people out there, so many different audiences, that there may just be people out there that are waiting to listen to what I might create…

So, here I am.  Making my music, and (somewhat reluctantly) sharing it with the world.  Or at least, with the Internet and Google’s search bots…

Don’t shy away from making your art as well, whatever it may be.  There’s plenty of room for all of us to be creative, and share our art with the world.  We need you.  Don’t let us down.

New songs on the way

curtis Music, Update

I realize that the songs I have now in the Music section are pretty… sparse.  I just really wanted to  get the site up and running, and I was procrastinating too much.

So, I launched the site with a few small songs that I’ve had “out there” already (honestly, mostly because they’re instrumental).

But, I have a few new songs in the works, some that are pretty close to being done, so stay tuned for updates.  I should be uploading them soon.