More Than What we See.

My second album, Believe, was written and recorded at a time when my faith system, once completely destructed, were being rebuit and reevaluated. . .I was coming to realize that I was not quite as agnostic as I had believed (since my departure from fundamentalism), but that i DID have some very firm, solid beliefs about God, hman nature, the material world, and the Spiritual world. Many of these beliefs are still in flux. . .growing and maturing on an almost daily basis, but there are several things that I believe in very firmly.

Let me share some thoughts with you from the lyrics of some of the songs on the album:

From Underneath the Water:

The Weirdness and the wildness
The relevance of ancient tales
They lead me on to wisdom
They lead me down forgotten trails
And when I look for something
To teach me how to be a man
I find him deep inside me
A mentor form an ancient CLan
He was underneath the Water

From Believe:

I've given up so many things
I used to hold as true
I've doubted all the powers
Guiding me and you
And I feel the hunger
That's burning in our hearts
People never can tell
Love and fear apart

Another Reason I have lost my faith. . .

But I Believe in Love.

From Queen Anne's Lace:

I Cannot promise only days of days of joy and laughter
But you can take your fears and stare them in the face
Oh my daughters and my sons you'll know the joy that follows after
Oh and then I'll see you standing
In the Queen Anne's Lace

Everything must end that has begun
But I hope that you will always live in grace
Always please remember this my daughters and my sons
I only want to see you standing
In the Queen Anne's Lace

From Jericho:

I can't believe that a God of Love
Would demand the blood of an innocent child
If a prohphet's tounge spits lies of hate
It's not a Holy war, it's genocide

From Courage:

It takes a stronger man to understand
Than to throw himself on a hand grenade.

From Taken with Available Light:

All we have is what we have
All we are is what we are
Pictures of moments in time
Taken with Available Light

You and I
Have everything we need
Picture perfect
With Available Light

And then of course, the entire lyric for More than what we See:

I believe that love is never ending
I believe that hope can always find a way
I believe that wisdom comes from learning
But also from a place of yearning
To live my life growing every day

I believe religion holds no answers
But I believe in providence and grace
I believe there is a higher power
Day by day, hour by hour
Guides us on to find a better place

If you ask the reason why,
Listen closely I will tell you
It’s written all across the sky,
Singing on the wind
In the eyes of every laughing child,
In the lover’s touch, the old man’s memories
Something sacred, something wild
More than what we see

I believe that violence seldom profits
I believe that wanton bloodshed is a sin
I believe that hate’s a cancer
To live that way there is no answer
Fall in that well, you won’t get out again

If you ask the reason why,
Listen closely I will tell you
It’s written all across the sky,
Singing on the wind
In the eyes of every laughing child,
In the lover’s touch, the old man’s memories
Something sacred, something wild
More than what we see

Maybe it is all not very good as a statement of doctrine or dogma, but it is not really meant to be. I personally believe that God works best in an environemtn where we listen more than speak, and are defined rather than defining.

What about you all. . .what do YOU believe? What principles guide you and your life? More importantly, how do these beliefs express themselves in your life?