Seeing with eyes that can see

When a cry for help is a shout of praise

The poetic genius of Andrew Peterson
27th December 2008

My old art teacher used to say, ‘Paint what you see.’ Not the most profound sounding advice. But it’s amazing how little we see when we look around us. Like the time my teacher kindly pointed out that I obviously hadn’t looked too closely when I was drawing a bag of sugar for my homework as I had left out the ‘a’ from the side of the packet and ended up drawing a packet of 'sugr'. I guess what makes a truly great artist is the ability to notice the things around us that most of us miss, to see beyond the obvious to the miraculous.

Rich Mullins was such an artist. Although perhaps most well known for his song ‘Awesome God', the chorus of which has become popular in worship circles, Mullins' gift for lyric writing was certainly unsurpassed and arguably unequalled amongst his peers. He had an unrivalled ability to see and express deep truths embedded in the everyday world around us, of connecting the truths of the gospel with the ordinariness of life in a way that brought hope and inspired faith. When he was killed in a car accident in 1997 it seemed that none would be able to carry on his legacy.

And then a few years ago I came across Andrew Peterson. Perhaps it was the fact that others were drawing comparisons with Mullins that caught my eye – whatever it was I decided to check him out. And I’m very glad I did. It’s not just the nasal twang of a less than perfect but utterly authentic vocal that draws comparisons with Mullins; it’s not just the acoustic folk tinged approach to his music; it’s not even the sprinkling of hammered-dulcimer throughout that reminds us of Rich. More than all that, it’s the lyrics.

I want to share some from his latest release, The Resurrection Letters Vol. 2, to give you a taster for this great artist.

My personal favourite from the album is the song ‘Hosanna’. It’s both a heart-felt confession and a cry to God to come and save us from the mess we make of ourselves, expressed like this:

I am tangled up in contradiction.
I am strangled by my own two hands.
I am hunted by the hounds of addiction - Hosanna!
I have lied to everyone who trusts me.
I have tried to fall when I could stand.
I have only loved the ones who loved me - Hosanna!

I have struggled to remove this raiment
Tried to hide every shimmering strand
I contend with these ghosts and these hosts of bright angels – Hosanna!
I have cursed the man that you have made me
I have nursed the beast that bays for my blood
Oh, I have run from the one who would save me - Save me, Hosanna!

Here's a live acoustic video of a song off Resurrection Letters called ‘I’ve got news’.


This video takes us back to his previous album, The Far Country, with the title track exploring the certainty and reality of heaven and the hope of redemption for a fallen world.



Finally, this link will take you to a 45 minute podcast with Andrew, where he takes us, track by track, through his new album, discussing the ideas and motivation behind the songs, and playing siginificant chunks of the songs in between. I'm quite amazed just how much of the album you can hear here - and it's all totally free. This is an excellent introduction to the music – and the man – Andrew Peterson.

Let Andrew open your eyes to things that we always all around you; let him point you back to the God we so easily forget, our Emmanuel, all around us.

Next time we'll take a look in a bit more detail at the song Hosanna under the title 'When a cry for help is a shout of praise'
Alistair Hamill