A song written with reference to Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23.
I wrote this song in an effort to put “The Parable of the Sower” into song.
As a kid, I attended a Sunday School singing songs like “Sandy Land” (by Ernie Rettino / PSALTY) and “The Trees of The Field” (by Stuart Dauermann / Steffi Rubin). These songs put melodies to the words of their related biblical stories, which meant that as I got them stuck in my head and hummed them over and over at home, I gained a little extra understanding, and a little more connection to the words within these biblical passages.
Such songs have made a profound difference within particular moments of my life. How? Often, I will find myself singing songs (often just within my own mind) that connect to what is happening in my life at the time. These may be songs that I haven’t heard or sung for years, but my brain draws on them when the situation I’m experiencing, is related.
When I was 14, I was diagnosed with a hearing condition called ‘Otosclerosis’. With this condition, calcification occurs within the ear, reducing the ear’s ability to receive sound, causing hearing loss. My hearing loss was sudden and significant.
It was an extremely difficult time for me that led me to search and question my own faith. Why did this happen to me? It was a big question for me, as I had really just started to flourish within my own music, starting a band, writing songs, singing and playing bass within many musical situations and groups. I had started to come into my own, and now this was being thrown into the mix.
At this time, I was playing bass in the church band for Adamstown Uniting’s weekly Sunday night service in The Dungeon. We played a good range of songs (with varying degrees of success! Hehe), but one particular song that we played kept coming back to me like a broken record in my head. “I Love You, Lord” by Laurie B. Klein.
The song’s words, “I love You, Lord and I lift my voice, to worship You, Oh my soul rejoice,” spoke to the joy that I found within the music and the happiness I felt at being able to express and explore this creative element of myself.
But then the next section of the song, “Take joy my King, in what You hear, let me be a sweet, sweet sound, in Your ear,” seemed to speak directly to the struggle I was experiencing with my own hearing. It helped me to remember that even if things outside of me were hard to hear, I could still hear these melodies within my own head, and this was still something to find joy in.
This song was a comfort when I couldn’t sleep from the worry about my deteriorating hearing. It accompanied me to school. It settled me when I was in exams, and even when my tinnitus was so loud I could barely hear myself think.
Years later this seems like a distant memory to me, as I was lucky enough to have two incredible operations (stapedectomies) on my ears that returned my hearing back to a normal range. But I didn’t get my ears operated on until I was 23. By that stage, I had completed school very successfully, completed a Bachelor of Music degree, and I was even playing double bass with National Orchestras including Adelaide Symphony and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.
The song accompanied me, all the way.
So in creating ‘Seed of Love’, I wanted a chance to give back a little. To share the wonderful “Parable of the Sower’ through a catchy melody, that might keep coming back to the mind even after the communal singing had finished.
I believe it’s a great message to carry with us in life. Let your heart be soft enough for the seed of love to be planted. Allow the roots of love to run deep in your life. You will see the beauty that can come from this, and there will be such an abundance of beauty that you can share it with others.
Seed Of Love