A nightclub in Orlando. Police shootings. A sniper in Dallas. Our nation has been pummeled by pain these past few months. It seems we don’t even have time to finish one cycle of grieving before another is thrown at us. We’re questioning our emotions, our relationships, our institutions, our beliefs.
I believe in a God whose timing is perfect. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that one of my favorite bands dropped their 10th studio album right during this period of chaotic questioning. “Where The Light Shines Through” by Switchfoot is an album everyone in America needs to listen to—an album that lays out the raw brokenness of humanity but points beyond it to a greater hope.
Hope’s something we need right now, don’t you think? Not anger, not condemnation, not blame-casting, not defensiveness. Hope. If hope can define the human experience the way Switchfoot describes in their music, maybe we’ll better understand how to make peace with tragedy and confusion.
In “Looking for America,” the band asks honest questions that have been on the minds of many lately, ultimately challenging us Americans. What are we doing about what’s going on? Are we rising above?
America, who are you? / Underneath the red, blue, and white / America, who are you? / I wonder who you are tonight . . . / America, who are you? / Is God still on your side? / I want to see a nation rise above the fear and fight that haunts these streets tonight
The album’s title track addresses the diversity as well as the commonality of humanness. Amidst current conversations about race and discrimination, I love the image of every person bleeding the same blood, wrapped up in a shared brokenness that still somehow holds room for light.
Ain't we all just Abraham's son? / Saint and sinner with the song and drum, and / We're fallen on our knees, we all bleed the same . . .
The wound is where the light shines through / The wound is where the light finds you
Every other track on the album continues spinning out this thread of hope, bearing titles like “I Won’t Let You Go,” “Live It Well,” and “Healer of Souls.” My absolute favorite is a simple and heartfelt song called “Hope is the Anthem.” The chorus declares: My heartbeat, my oxygen / My banner, my home / My future, my song / Your hope is the anthem of my soul.
See, my ultimate hope isn’t in America. It isn’t in our laws or our society or even the awfully messy people who make this nation possible. Switchfoot’s album paints a beautiful picture of what it looks like for our hope to be in the Healer of Souls, in the Good God who transcends all human evils.
In an email sent out back in May, the band’s lead singer Jon Foreman wrote, “Ironically, this album of light was born from one of the darkest times I've ever been through. . . And somehow, against that backdrop of darkness, light began to break through. These scars of mine began to turn into songs.”
Light breaks through the darkness. I have no doubt that this can be true not only for an individual, or for a band, but for a nation. Scars can be made beautiful and I'm glad that Switchfoot chose to share their hurt and healing through music so we in America who are hurting right now can hear a message of hope amidst chaos.
