ArtWay

Beauty is not pasted over suffering but grows out of it—like the proverbial shoot from parched ground. Bruce Herman

Ordinary Time & Barbara de Reus

Image: Remember Me by Barbara de Reus Kamma
 
Lyrics and music: Until He Comes by Peter La Grand
 
 
This video combines the song Until He Comes by Ordinary Time with a painting by Barbara de Reus.
 
The song is based on Lamentations 3:
 
I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth, for the Lord will not reject for ever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
 
-----
 
Until He comes
 
I have sought the darkness
I have been unwise
Since I was young I have hungered
for the sinful life
And when you called I ran from you
Down every easy road
My God have you forsaken me?
Is it too late for my soul?

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy love

I will wait on the Lord
Until He comes to make me whole
His promise is my hope
His promise is my hope

I have known affliction
Cried rivers from my eyes
I have longed for death to come
To still my worried mind

I will wait quietly for the one I seek
He will show compassion as He brings me grief
 
I will wait on the Lord
Until He comes to make me whole
His promise is my hope
His promise is my hope
 
On the CD Until He Comes, 2008, by Ordinary Time 
 
Barbara de Reus Kamma: Remember Me, 1992, mixed media, 140 x 75 cm.
 
Barbara de Reus Kamma (1933-2014) grew up in New Guinea. During her childhood war broke out and years in concentration camps followed. She lives in the Netherlands since1946. Her past may be the key to her work. She prefers to use weather-beaten, discarded, used and worn materials. 'The materials need to have gone through something. By including them in artworks I give them a second life, a form of survival. Human beings have a central place in most of my work: alone or together, in joy or sorrow, strong or powerless... and how one survives.' Her later work, since 1995, is filled with stillness and space. 
 
Ordinary Time is a band made up Ben Keyes (guitar, piano, mandolin), Peter La Grand (guitar, banjo, dobro), and Jill McFadden (guitar, violin). All three members sing, taking turns on melody and harmony. The music ranges from bluegrass tinged Americana to straightforward sacred harp hymn arrangements. The band met in Vancouver, British Columbia, where they were all studying Christianity & the Arts at Regent College. Ordinary Time released their fifth album, Good News, in 2016.  myspace.com/ordinarytimemusic,  www.ordinarytimemusic.com.


More:

- January 2024: Peter S. Smith and Duke Special
- April 2023: Move On Up a Little Higher
- February 2023: Sons of Korah: Isaiah 53
- October 2022: The Dance of the Trinity
- January 2022: All Sons & Daughters
- November 2021: Sufjan Stevens & Geertgen tot Sint Jans
- September 2021: The Welcome Wagon
- May 2021: Here and Heaven
- February 2021: Stay with Me, song and windows from Taizé
- December 2020: Lapwing: Hope Christmas Gets You to Me
- June 2020: Paul Field & Betty Spackman
- May 2020: Come, Holy Ghost
- March 2020: Beautiful Scandalous Night
- November 2019: Mikhail Aldashin: Russian Christmas Animation
- October 2019: Jan Krist & Gor Chahal
- May 2019: Dobrinka Tabakova: Origami & Higashi Kara No
- May 2019: Peter S Smith and Duke Special
- April 2019: Rosanna Cash: The Walking Wounded
- November 2018: The Visitation
- September 2017: Sufjan Stevens & Deborah Johnson
- August 2017: Jason Carter: Amazing Grace
- July 2017: G.F. Händel & Marc de Klijn
- March 2017: Come... Help me Lament
- December 2016: Alana Levandoski & Julie Ann Stevens
- December 2016: Sufjan Stevens & Geertgen tot Sint Jans
- November 2016: Jan Krist & Gor Chahal