Faith is a powerful force. It can unite people, raise the most iconic monuments, and bring love, sympathy, hope, and charity into the world. But, in the hands of some, it is also used to sow the seeds of unrest, to demonize certain cultures and creeds, and to be a divisive and dangerous force. And, for such a powerful aspect of the human story, there is still no consensus on what faith is, beyond a general adherence to one unshakable truth. But I guess that is the whole point, the test, that faith denies proof…often a hard concept to grasp in an increasingly secular and scientific world.
And many of those questions and uncertainties can be read, not just between the lines, but in the actual words of Rebecca Aadland’s latest single, “God Stuff 2026.” As the title suggests, this is an updated version of a song that she wrote twenty years ago, but at a time when the names of another culture, religion, or path are used by some as shorthand tags interchangeable with terms such as enemy, heretic, and un-American, it is a song that needed to have the spotlight shone upon it once more.
The music is delicate, with Jacqueline Ultan’s heartaching cello and Aadland’s son, Luke Schoper’s, understated piano providing the song’s serene soul, cradled in delicate beats and deft guitars, but it is the vocals that provide the focal point.
Not just the questions that Aadland raises through the lyrics, but specifically the spoken words quoted from ceremonies and holy books from across the globe. As she cuts through the difficult understanding and hits at the heart of what faith is, at least what it should be, she reminds us that at their core, all religions espouse the same values: love, community, understanding, hope, and support. That our trappings and words might be different, but we are all walking towards the same point of light, and indeed, enlightenment.
It is a gorgeous song, but its power lies in the message that it carries, a reminder that faith might be undefinable and individual, but how we choose to express such qualities and spread those understandings as humans is anything but.
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