Knowing Aaron a little from being friends with some of his old friends and talking to him after shows and stuff, I would say he's definitely not going overboard or deviating from his Christian faith. It's interesting to note the Sufi influence, but I don't think it's cause for concern; everything that is true is from G-d, and I would say that there is truth hidden in all religions (thought I should clarify that that doesn't mean "all roads lead to Rome"; I think though, that Aaron gets at a seldom-noticed aspect of worship in this song, though we can put into it what we bring to it, if that makes sense.)
I read an interview of him, I'll have to see if I can find the link, but in that interview he definitely sounded quite strong in his faith in Christ, but acknowledged that his beliefs are merely that, a belief, and that (as he says in one of his songs) he doesn't want his beliefs, he wants G-d. (which is a C.S. Lewis paraphrase, if I remember correctly)
So I think the use of more Arabic chanting on this album, the Beetle King song ("we didn't ask what it seemed like, we asked what it is"), along with its title (from a saying in a book of Sufi mystic thoughts), is a way of embracing the truth that surrounds while anchoring it to Christ. (like in songs like a Stick a Carrot and String, The Angel of Death, etc.), is a look at how all of us are trying to put into words something that is inherently beyond words. I think this album is best taken as a companion to Brother, Sister. While on that previous album he was still trying to grasp for words to hold on to to make G-d seem more tangible, on this one he is embracing the joy of G-d while caring less for the logistics. He is putting to music his statement from Dryness and the Rain: "Oh, what am I to think of what the writings of a thousand lifetimes could not contain if all the forest's trees were pens and all the oceans, ink?"
Knowing Aaron a little from being friends with some of his old friends and talking to him after shows and stuff, I would say he's definitely not going overboard or deviating from his Christian faith. It's interesting to note the Sufi influence, but I don't think it's cause for concern; everything that is true is from G-d, and I would say that there is truth hidden in all religions (thought I should clarify that that doesn't mean "all roads lead to Rome"; I think though, that Aaron gets at a seldom-noticed aspect of worship in this song, though we can put into it what we bring to it, if that makes sense.)
I read an interview of him, I'll have to see if I can find the link, but in that interview he definitely sounded quite strong in his faith in Christ, but acknowledged that his beliefs are merely that, a belief, and that (as he says in one of his songs) he doesn't want his beliefs, he wants G-d. (which is a C.S. Lewis paraphrase, if I remember correctly)
So I think the use of more Arabic chanting on this album, the Beetle King song ("we didn't ask what it seemed like, we asked what it is"), along with its title (from a saying in a book of Sufi mystic thoughts), is a way of embracing the truth that surrounds while anchoring it to Christ. (like in songs like a Stick a Carrot and String, The Angel of Death, etc.), is a look at how all of us are trying to put into words something that is inherently beyond words. I think this album is best taken as a companion to Brother, Sister. While on that previous album he was still trying to grasp for words to hold on to to make G-d seem more tangible, on this one he is embracing the joy of G-d while caring less for the logistics. He is putting to music his statement from Dryness and the Rain: "Oh, what am I to think of what the writings of a thousand lifetimes could not contain if all the forest's trees were pens and all the oceans, ink?"
Very insightful!
Very insightful!