#OurFather(TheLord'sPrayer)

Our Father (The Lord's Prayer)
Music and lyrics - Greig Hess
©2014 Greig Hess

I am so excited about this song and am really glad to be able to share it.  I love it so much, but not for it's craft or anything that I could bring to it.  I love it because it feels like such a gift from heaven and I am so thankful and humbled to have been entrusted with it.

When I sat down to write it, I had a blank page paired with the daunting idea of trying to creatively visit the Lord's prayer, a prayer from scripture that has been a rich part of church history and tradition for over 2000 years.  As I spent some time thinking, reading and praying there were three things that rose up and became the theme and foundation for the song.

In his book, The Mystery Of Faith, Glenn Packiam points out that when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he was happy to oblige them, he dove right in and honored their request.  I began to think about how much God wants to show us and teach us how to be close to Him.

In Matthew 6 where this exchange takes place, Jesus encourages us to get away in private with the Father.  In vs 6 he says, 'But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.'  He wants us to steal away and focus on Him.  As we strip away everything else and push into Him, we know Him better, we know His heart better and find ourselves unified with our God.

While the idea of getting away with God for our own private time is an amazing and blessed discipline, I noted that the prayer is all written in communal language.  No I's.  No Me's.  Yet it is littered with our's and us's.  Throughout history this prayer has been spoken by people individually and corporately.  For me it speaks to how Jesus wants all people to come before the Father as one people, with one heart beating in time with the Lord's.

I was grateful for creative friends who helped bring the song to life in ways that inspire our eyes, ears, minds and hearts.  Thank you to Michelle, Jenna, Rob, Chris and John.  These guys are another reason I love this song.

This prayer is powerful.  Sit with it but please don't simply watch and listen.  Instead go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father.

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#Like A Tree (Psalm 1)

Like A Tree (Psalm 1)
(C) 2014 - Greig Hess


Several months ago our pastor quoted Psalm 1 in his sermon. The sermon was a call to dive deep into the Word and take our faith seriously. That day the Psalm caught my attention. It caught my attention not simply for it's draw as scripture but that in these short number of verses this call was outlined with this amazing picture of a tree planted by a stream.  My creative brain then tucked those thoughts away for a future song.

The song came relatively easily with some pages of notes, lyrics and musical ideas. I read the Psalm in various translations which helped keep me thinking. So often, I have the desire to not be all of the things listed in the verse. In the writing of the song I found a fresh hope in the fact that I can only be the strong tree when I let go, reach deep to the life giving water, and let the Master Gardener tend me.

I enjoyed putting the final product together. I am thankful for friends Art, Harrison & Jordan for lending their talents to the recording of it. Be blessed and reach deep to the water!

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#SeeTheOne

See The One
(C) 2013 - Greig Hess, Jenna Hess


A new song with a great and special story!!

I was super pumped and honored when my sister, Fiona, asked me to sing at her wedding.  It had been a joy to watch her and David's journey and we were all excited to celebrate their marriage.  As the wedding approached we began to work on what song(s) would be sung.  I began sorting through lots of great option and my wife, Jenna was helping too.  Even though there were many great options for songs I felt like there was a new song that was to be written for David and Fiona & their special day.

I asked Jenna if she'd be game for co writing and seeing what we could come up with.  It felt like Ephesians 5 was to be the starting point for our song.  Ephesians 5 is where God outlines how wives should treat husbands, how husbands should treat wives and how Christ's love for the church is an example of this love.  So we both went off to our separate corners, spent some time in that passage and then came back together to try and put our different pieces together.

After a few hours we had the meat of a song, even if there was still a lot more work to do!  So I approached David and Fiona, and told them that we had a new song for them.  We asked them if we could give them the gift of this song at their wedding without them ever hearing it!  (People getting married often like to have as many unknowns as possible be a part of their wedding ;)  )  However they were both very gracious and allowed us to give them their gift at the wedding.

The wedding was a great day of celebration and we were excited to join with them as they started their new life together!

The writing of the song was a great collaborative effort.  We were able to pull in the elements of the Ephesians 5 passage, David & Fiona's relationship and our own understanding of marriage.  Jenna added the he/she component (a great part of this song).  A lot of our conversations revolved around the need to give sacrificially to each other without expecting anything in return (something that is modeled well in Ephesians 5!). The rest of it is formed out of pages filled with lines, notes & thoughts and a desire to tell a story and give a gift.

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Writing in Overflow

I have not posted on here for a little bit but lots has been going on in my songwriting world!

I felt like I got off to a good start with my writing goals for 2013 and by the beginning of March I had 3 completed songs (though yet to be recorded and posted here).  Then Easter hit, I got busy and I quickly fell out of my rhythm and habit.

Suddenly it was May and I was still no further ahead with any writing.  Then last week I had the opportunity to write a song (with Jenna) as a gift for someone from a deep place in my heart (more on that when I post that song).    The song came easily and it was great to be writing again.  However one of the best fruits was how this experience inspired other songs that were in the hopper to keep being developed.

Now I am ahead of my writing goals for the years and believe I am writing in a great overflow of grace as I continue to take on my challenge and task of writing in 2013.  I am so pumped to dive back in! Keep watching for the fruit!

I was also able to add a new guitar this past week to my arsenal of writing tools!  Another exciting part of this week.

#Abide

Abide
(C) 2013 - Greig Hess, Jenna Hess


Here is the first completed song of my 2013 song writing endeavor.

The first song that I chose to work on this year actually started last summer.  Jenna felt like she had a song on her heart.  She had lyrics and melody and wanted to work on pulling those out of her and forming it into a song.  We were on a family camping trip in Rifle CO and we thought that would be a great time to sit down and see what developed.  So on a couple of the nights we sat together with a notebook and guitar, and started putting things together - melodies, lyrics and chords.  It's not as cool as you are picturing it right now  -  there was fire ban across most of Colorado so as it got dark we gathered around the lanterns and flashlights along with the bugs and made music!

 

I sat down at the beginning of this year and took all the things we had worked on last summer and helped move the song to something that was more complete.  I'm pretty pumped that this was the first fruits of latest endeavor and that Jenna's hand was a part of it too!

The inspirations for the song along with God's amazing abiding nature was the hymn, 'Abide With Me'  (a favorite of Jenna's) and Psalm 123.  We've found this song to take on even deeper meaning as we have journeyed through life very much aware of how much we need God to abide and be with us.  Sometimes we even need our own words (even from a previous moment) to serve as a strengthening reminder.  It's good to remember that even as we move away from Him, he's still there.

We hope this song is a blessing and brings peace as HE abides with you!

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Our notes

Writing on an airplane

Two weeks ago I was traveling to Austin TX and I took the opportunity to do some writing whilst travelling.

So on the plane I broke out my notebook and started messing with some different ideas that I had jotted down in there.  I spent most of the time working very hard and intentionally on lyrics for an idea that had fallen out of the sky that previous weekend.  It's been interesting to watch this little song take shape as it's beginning came so casually and informally, yet its development has had so much more depth in its development even at 30,000 feet!

For the people around me, I am sure they were intrigued/slightly annoyed at my continual tapping, humming and writing.  It was great to be focused on the task with few distractions including musical instruments!

The song I speak of is called 'You are Good' and should make a full appearance here at some point!

#Miriam's Song

Miriam's Song

(C) 2009 Greig Hess
 
Miriam is my daughter.  Miriam is special and unique in many ways and has a deep and rich personality.  Miriam is also unique and special in name.  I do not know anyone else names Miriam expect for Miriam in the Bible, Moses' sister.

Where we were expecting Miriam and had decided on her name, I spent some time in the scripture exploring who that Miriam was.  Bible Miriam is most famous for leading the Israelites in a song of praise (commonly referred to as Miriam's Song) after the crossing of the Red Sea incident.  That passage speaks of God's faithfulness and greatness and then the declaration of these things as a response to a Great Act.  This was the heart that I wanted this song to capture.

As we waited for our Miriam, I wanted to remember His faithfulness and greatness as we prepared to receive our Great Act.

Download the chart here.

My original notebook scratches

Our Miriam!!!