Month: July 2024

The rest of this series: Intro and Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

Jon Foreman, Switchfoot and Me

Ch. 5 – The Sound of Truth

Another album. Another step forward in life. I was now chasing two little girls (one of whom had no interest in sleep.) The only thing I remember noticing initially about Switchfoot’s album Nothing is Sound was the artwork. For some reason this album cover fixed in my mind and has remained one of my favorites.

As seems to be my tendency with this band, the music from this album came around to accompany me years later. In 2009 I had three little girls to keep up with, the confusion of a global recession to process, and was amid what I look back now and see was a season of intense personal crisis. The year opened with broken health and the shock and fallout of unexpected deaths, and ended with my husband’s job layoff and the beginning of watching a long line of friends lose their homes. At the time I was just trying to survive.

The beauty of that time was smiling little faces with bright eyes and full cheeks. The chatter of little girl voices and laughter filled our home, and days of tea parties, digging in the dirt, and styling doll hair were treasures I will never cease to be thankful for. To say our daughters were the light in the dark during that time would be an understatement. The beautiful miracle of small children looked me in the face every day, and it was an unspeakable gift.

During those days, we spent lots of time in the kitchen, because baking is such a happy occupation. Because we were living the days before MP3s or streaming, a little “boombox” cd player sat on my kitchen counter. One day I turned on a random, caseless CD that I hadn’t listened to before.

That’s the first time I remember hearing Stars.

When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
I see someone else
When I look at the stars, the stars
I feel like myself

At that time star-gazing had become one of my most peace-giving ways of passing the time. This song captured what I was finding: in the middle of a fearful wrestling with my faith, the sight of the stars could always bring things back into perspective.

I was also captured by Happy is a Yuppie Word because it articulated the view of life I was attempting to come to terms with for the first time. (And since yuppie is a very dated word, here’s a definition.)

Jon Foreman’s repeated cry that “nothing is sound” echoed the desperate realization in my own heart, while his answer to that truth matched the shaky but persistent place I stood.

I don’t believe the emptiness
I’m looking for the kingdom coming down

Finally, the song I’ve turned to the same way I would turn to a hymn. Year after year it has been a trustworthy reminder of reality, when all the darkness hovers close; offering a question that changes everything… What if the darkness is proclaiming the light?

Oh Lord, why did You forsake me?
Oh Lord, don’t be far away
Storm clouds gathering beside me
Please Lord, don’t look the other way

I’m a crooked soul trying to stay up straight
Dry eyes in the pouring rain where
The shadow proves the sunshine
The shadow proves the sunshine…

Shine on me
Let my shadows prove the sunshine