Miracles and magic in everyday life
A Permeable Life
Artist: Carrie Newcomer (www.carrienewcomer.com)
Label: Available Light Records
Length: 12 tracks/48 minutes
It’s my loss that Carrie Newcomer’s twelfth studio
recording is only my second meeting, the first being The Geography of Light (2008). I have been enriched by each visit,
which leads me to believe that becoming acquainted with her other works will
bring further delight. If Newcomer is a stranger but you enjoy someone like
David Wilcox, take the time to listen to the beauty and depth that this artist
offers.
You might find yourself captivated by “Writing You a Letter” on
A Permeable Life. The song conveys a
sense of awe and mystery, especially in the music. Acoustic guitar, bass, keyboard,
light percussion and violin combine in a way that hints at what is below the
surface. Newcomer sings, “I’m a stranger here, I’m only passing through/But
every place I go leaves its own tattoo,” while the chugging pace provides a sense
of journey. This train is bound for glory but don’t expect to remain unchanged
along the way.
The sublime sounds make the world seem rife with
possibilities. It is my favorite track for the feeling that it conveys. It’s
not often that a song can help me experience what cannot be completely named.
It’s “miracles and magic.”
Actually, you find similar moments throughout this
release. I know that along with stellar musicianship it is Newcomer’s Quaker
background that brings such richness. The lovely prose and melodies are enhanced
by the finger-picking that drives these songs.
Newcomer lightens the mood on “Room at the Table,” which
invites all to partake of a bounty enough for everyone. “Forever Ray”
celebrates a lifelong love that endures through the sunset years. The closing
“Please Don’t Put Me on Hold” is Newcomer’s humor in full bloom. Anyone who has
endured automated answering systems should be able to relate.
As I write these next words, it is now the early hours of
Easter. Christ rose not as a mere phantom but as flesh and blood. This has ever
been the hope of the follower of Jesus: the resurrection of the body!
Christianity is incarnate from Advent to the empty tomb.
It is concrete spirituality in the form of relationship. I find these two
aspects beautifully embodied on “Abide,” the perfect end of day song.
The chorus invites
shared presence: “Oh abide with me/Where it’s breathless and its empty/Yes
abide with me/And we’ll pass the evening gently/Stay awake with me/And we’ll
listen more intently/To something wordless and remaining/Sure and ever changing/In
the quietness of now.” What is sure and ever changing? “There is living water/A
spirit cutting through/Always changing, always making/All things new.”
Newcomer never needs to preach. Throughout this release
she sets her faith in the context of human interactions. It’s delicately worked
into every line of struggles and joys. This is not rugged individualism but a
lifestyle built on the revelation disclosed in “Visitation” that there “is a hope
that won’t let go.” It dawned on Resurrection Sunday and shines to the full
light of day.
Lately, I have moments where
I long for a renewed sense of wonder. Such a desire is continually obscured by
the pace of life and the world’s many distractions. Newcomer’s work is like an
ally helping me to find meaning not only in the burning bush but in every grain
of sand. Let me be awe-inspired even in the commonplace. As Newcomer puts it, “To
live permeably is to be open-hearted and audacious, to risk showing up as our truest
self, and embracing a willingness to be astonished.”
