Hey everyone,
I want to start off this blog post with some short highlights of the month of October before I get into length about what is on my mind and what the Holy Spirit is prompting me to write about…
It was my birthday on the 11th, as well as my future sister-in-law’s, Madelynn! Gracie, my fiancée, and I met up with her family where we got to eat FIRE steak. The day before, the fellows brought me to get sushi and then we went and watched the Pharrell Williams Lego Movie, which was honestly one of the best movies in the past couple years. There was sweet, intimate time spent with the fellows in long conversations about questions we’ll never answer. Gracie and I saw Brandon Lake for our third time and saw some great friends In Richmond (Abigail and Coleman). I went up to JMU for homecoming to see the Milkmen. The fellows went to the fair where we spent way too much money just to lose on the games (except Joe). It was a full month with every range of emotion.
There’s so much more I could say, but here’s what I’ve been fixated on: For those of you that don’t know, music is my escape from life’s noise. Most of the time, you'll find me listening to music and searching for new, unique sounds. Okay so, there is this band named The Oh Hellos, who have been one of, if not my, favorite band for awhile. They are able to transform real-life experiences into a profoundly fantastical world. They bring me into this safe place where I am forced to reminisce on experiences and people.
Particularly, their album “Through the Deep, Dark Valley” (TDDV) is what I want to tell you all about. This album is based off of the parable of the lost son in Luke 15 and his journey home. TDDV is a journey through the process of why we continue to run from God. In the song Like the Dawn, they encapsulate what it would be like for Adam to finally see his other needed part, Eve. She is called “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” in Genesis 2 and the lyrics repeat this saying, “Bones of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, at last.” And later we see the introduction of sin as Adam, in this song realizes that, “you (Eve) will surely be the death of me.”
Relating this to where I am in life, with getting married in August, it’s imperative to understand what the foundation of marriage should be. I’m thankful to know that my marriage is not my provider—Jesus is. He is the one who made mine and Gracie’s bones and flesh.
There is this four song section of the album which starts the story of the prodigal son and in this album, he’s named Eustace Scrubb, after the character in The Chronicles of Narnia. In the second of these four songs, Second Child, Restless Child, this young man says “And Heaven knows how hard I tried, but that devil whispered lies I’d believe,” relating back to Adam and Eve, that his (our) pursuit of sin started with them. His narrative is set in the past and later says that “You’ve gotta go on further than you’ve ever gone.” And yes, I have gone far from God and still now, continue to recognize how much I need Jesus.
The third song, Wishing Well, says the son is prone to wander endlessly echoing the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” which they reprise on the last song of the album. It’s beautiful, truly. For those who are unfamiliar, the prodigal son takes his fathers inheritance allocated to him and leaves home to go enjoy the riches of the world, which doesn’t last long. The lyrics show his sorrow:
“Cause, oh, I stole from my father
All I thought I could sell
Tossed his copper, and I watched as it fell
But there wasn’t any water in the wishing well”
This water he was searching for would soon be found, the living water in his Father.
In Memoriam, the last song in this Prodigal Son section, expresses in a wondrous way that if the son comes home, the father will be there. The son knows this, but he can’t accept his father’s love:
“But I'm sure I'll find you waiting there for me
And by the time I blink, I'll see your wild arms swinging
Just to meet me in the middle of the road…
Heaven knows I’m prone to leave the only God I should have loved
And yet you’re far too beautiful to leave me.”
This is where the son admits that it’s not his father who he has left and stolen from, but God. And maybe most of you reading this know this story, but this album explodes with emotion and careful articulation of our need for God and his loving embrace. There’s nothing we can do to escape it, but we need to come home first.
I think this album lives in my soul. There is nothing better in this world than a broken human coming home to the feet of Jesus. I’m going to leave the link to this album below, its 40 minutes, listen if you like. It makes me cry tears of joy and thankfulness. This redemption story is meant for all of us and this album helps me admire it. Listening to TDDV could take a whole day if you let it.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/65VoSsmtmE2b7VwEvni4D8?si=LIzETe42TvKRQMDNuA-oGw
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/through-the-deep-dark-valley-ten-year-anniversary-remaster/1646705522
Thanks for reading everyone, I know it was long.
I love you all,
Ryan McKean