Parables
“For thousands of years we’ve been using our voices to tell tales of our past, justifying our choices. Stories passed on to each generation – using our imagination as a means of explanation. Trying to make sense of a world that seems senseless. Where tyrants prosper at the expense of the defenceless. When Jesus stepped into a world full of chaos, with three years to teach his disciples the way of the kingdom of heaven – the way we should live. Gracious, but serious. Often mysterious. He came teaching the truth in short illustrations. Nuggets of wisdom full of life’s complications. Tales of fathers, of sons and of brothers. Strangers and friends, rivals and lovers. Everyday situations brought to life by the incarnation of the one who knows our inner motivations. We were made to innately relate to a story. To parables pointing to God in His glory.”
I have always been drawn to stories – told through novels, plays, films, ballads, dance… One of my favourite genres is folk music, which are very often songs that tell stories – real life events, mythical tales, historical or fictional and Parables grew out of the desire to write a song that told a story in that style. The Bible is full of ready-made stories ready to be put to song and the parables seemed to be the perfect resource to use. Often the parables are taught in Sunday School and are very familiar to us, but there is so much more to them than children’s stories.
Written over the space of 4 months in the summer of 2021, these songs and poems tell some of the parables, hopefully bringing something new to the familiar tales of the prodigal son, the good samaritan the pharisee and the tax collector and more.
Parables received a 9.3/10 review from One Man In The Middle – read it here.