Hi Folks, Welcome to our February Song Lab. This song was written for a song and spoken word collaboration with Parker J. Palmer and Gary Walters called What We Need is Here: Hope, Hard Times and Human Possibility and appeared on my album The Beautiful Not Yet. The song “Help in Hard Times” emerged out of our many meaningful conversations about what grounds and sustains us in good and hard times, including the idea that what we need is right here —within us and between us.
At the same time I was reading Barbara Brown Taylor lovely book Learning to Walk in the Dark: Because Sometimes God Shows Up At Night. I was very touched by her concept of lunar spirituality and that we do not live most of our lives in full sun or full dark. Our lives are lived more often like the phases of the moon, always incorporating both shadow and light.
Threads of my conversations with Gary and Parker combined with my own experience and Barbara’s concept of lunar spirituality weave through the piece.
I’ve come to believe that there is not always a reason for the hard times we face, but I do believe in those difficult moments there is help and hope. Even when the moon is dark, there is still something whole and sacred right here, and becoming.
As usual, I play the song, talk a bit about the topic and thought process behind writing the song, and do a short guitar tutorial for those who would like to sing and play the song themselves! Tablature with lyrics, chords and an audio file for practice are below - and our community question.
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