Song for Sunday: Sweetest Mystery

I just had an enquiry from Canada about this song of mine, Sweetest Mystery. It is one of my favourites from my 2013 album, ‘Into the Deep.’ For some reason it hasn’t seemed to have caught on with others as much as it has caught on with me. I have been under its spell since I wrote it. In many ways this song that I created has been recreating me ever since. I wrote it as I was coming to grips with what it means to not only worship God, to live in the midst of the Trinity, to be enfolded by grace and dignity. When I’m settling one of my children in the night, it is my ‘go-to’ song. Something about the melody and the lyrical themes soothe me, and that helps me to soothe my kids. It addresses and arrests all the anxiety to rush and strive and prove myself.

So this enquiry from Canada felt like a nice little moment of affirmation, that something I had loved for such a long time was drawing that response from others as well.

The song itself is a reflection on Isaiah 6:1-8 – Isaiah’s bewildering encounter with God, who at first he is certain must be out to destroy him, but then discovers that his life and identity are found in this self-same encounter. I have been sitting with this passage for more than a decade, and only this morning was teaching ministry interns about the rhythm of worship that flows from it.

Isaiah 6:1-8 appears in the lectionary this Sunday for Epiphany 5. You might like to use the song, or even sing it with your congregation. I have dug out the sheet music and made it available in the shop.

3 Comments
  • woodbineheights

    The Spirit is generous indeed. How a melody comes, settles into our spirits, and spills out into the world (even the other side of it) to nourish and nurture stillness, starting that cycle of settling and spilling all over again. Pleased to be caught up in the cycle over here in Canada. Very much looking forward to an enlivening and animating experience of worship in the singing of ‘Sweetest Mystery.’ Many thanks.
    bob

    February 7, 2019
  • Chris Kan

    Mate, greetings from Western Australia – our favourite song to sing at Trinity!
    Blessings
    Chris

    June 3, 2023

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.