What He's Done -- Jacob Sooter, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden, Kristian Paul Stanfill

 

It wasn’t really a surprise that the words these four songwriters would compose would try to match the passion of the event they were attending. Jacob Sooter, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden, and Kristian Paul Stanfill were, in fact, being very intentional, since they were in Atlanta to write a song for the Passion Conference, coming up in January 2022. Their recall of that time and how “What He’s Done” emerged from their session together says as much about how much they were listening, versus what they were saying to each other in order to create this song. ‘It’s not about you and me’, they might say in retrospect, but about putting Him in the place He deserves. That’s their sense of how to make all other interactions among humans fall into their best places. Jesus didn’t get what He had prayed earlier (in the garden) to His Father to give Him, but look at how things turned out. What would we and history look like if He had avoided the mission He was sent to complete?

 

This group effort began in the months prior to January 2022 with just Kristian and Jacob sharing some seemingly unrelated information with each other, opening the door for a time when Anna and Tasha would add to the spirit of their four-part collaboration. It was a ‘real’ exchange, as Kristian remembers, in which he and Jacob were talking about their respective families and life in general. That set the tone, apparently, for an authentic exchange and reflection on what’s most important, touching Jacob first with the song’s chorus and title theme – ‘What He’s Done’. It was a ‘wow’ moment for the other three, who needed no other inspiration for a foundation upon which to contribute their own thoughts for the remainder of the writing session. God was there, they believed, giving them all they needed. They acknowledged the contrast with how some other songwriting episodes proceed; in this case they received, rather than worked themselves to create the lyrics and accompanying music. A baby’s birth might be the closest metaphor to what happens when a song like this one is conceived and given life. And, such a gift from Him needs no more adornment, no clever words added to make it better – just describe simply His act on the cross and what that does for you and me. This event’s unique nature and its import stands on its own, without a lot of flowery adjectives. It’s enough just to turn one’s eyes upon Him, and voice words like ‘bled’ ‘wounds’, ‘sacrifice’, ‘honor, ‘glory’, ‘freedom’, ‘forgiven’, ‘grace’, and of course, ‘heaven’. With the focus on the One who made it all happen, these songwriters could not leave out some of His ‘name(s)’ – ‘Savior’, ‘Son’, ‘God’, and ‘Father’ – so that our eyes would be fixed on this one who’s made life, and conquered death.  

 

These four songwriters were contemplating not only the Passion Conference’s upcoming schedule, but any Sunday morning that routinely arrives among a believer’s weekly activities. They reminded themselves and those who might sing ‘what He’s done’ that everyone has ‘stuff’ going on. It’s sometimes hard to leave all those other concerns at the door of a worship facility, but how’s it all stack up, compared to what happened on a hill and in a tomb 2,000 years ago? Re-center on those two moments. He’s capable of intervening for me, with whatever aid I find most needful in a troubling situation. But it seems that Jacob, Tasha, Anna, and Kristian are saying that what He’s done already proves that He’s the Almighty. How do you calculate the value of His death and rising? Let the Infinite One transform you infinitely.       

 

What He's Done // Passion feat. Kristian Stanfill, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Anna Golden // New Song Cafe (youtube.com) (story between 8:10 and 12:00 minute marks)

Read some of the story here also: ‘What He’s Done’ Acoustic Performance From Passion Featuring Kristian Stanfill | Christian Radio

 

See here for image of Atlanta seal and its public domain status -- File:Seal of Atlanta.svg - Wikimedia Commons This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 50 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.

To Canaan's Land I'm On My Way -- William Matthew Golden

Was he the only composer who ever wrote hymns while incarcerated? It seems like an intriguing question, one worth seeking to answer, and William Matthew Golden was certainly uncommon in his position in life to be declaring “To Canaan’s Land I’m On My Way”. He might have been excused if he had written some downbeat, blues ditty about injustice and some emotional anguish tormenting his soul, but yet he did something quite different. He looked forward expectantly, rather than backward with remorse. Perhaps it was therapeutic for William to write and look to the future, not just his earthly future beyond some Mississippi prison walls, but to a place and time when his life stains accrued by wrongdoing would no longer color his reputation. Might he have been singing these words about Canaan while in a field of physical labor (perhaps not unlike this scene from 1911 in Mississippi’s Parchman Penitentiary)?

William Matthew Golden reportedly served an eight-year stretch in state prison, probably in Mississippi, since that is where he was born (in 1878) and died (in 1934). Parchman Penitentiary was operating in the years during which Golden reportedly wrote his hymns (a few dozen) in the second decade of the 20^th Century, a time when the composer was in his mid-30s. His crime is unknown, and may be assumed to have been among the less severe, since his sentence was relatively brief. Nevertheless, any time locked up near other convicts, whose offenses may have made his own seem tame by comparison, could harden anyone. Yet, William doesn’t sound calloused in his poetry. He must have had more than one ‘dark(est) night’ (verse 1) in prison, but those two words are the only clear hint he gives of his existence at that moment. Instead, ‘soul (of man) never dies’ is a constant refrain this prisoner draws upon, maybe to remind himself that a life of imprisonment would ultimately evolve into eternal bliss. Could he also have been pondering the death of his only child earlier in life, and eagerly awaiting a miraculous reunion, as he sat in confinement? Did he miss earthly beauty, like flowers, while in detainment? He visualized a ‘rose blooming’ especially for himself in the afterlife (v. 2). Another prevailing characteristic of prison is the separation from loved ones who are still living, something that certainly must have gnawed at William; he notes ‘no sad farewells’ (refrain), ‘the shores of home’ (v.3), and ‘no parting hand’ (v. 5) were all prospects he could foresee in the hereafter. Whether Golden (originally spelled Golding) shared his thoughts with other prisoners, or was prompted by a prison chaplain or other authority to pen his thoughts, is unknown. Likewise, while his hymn-writing habit is a window into his outlook, whether this pastime earned him credit with his keepers or garnered him an early release remains a mystery.  

William Golden’s two most prominent traits stand in stark contrast to each other. He was a criminal, and yet he composed beautiful hymns, a fact that relates a most startling piece of information. I’m not too far from doing something decent, even while in the midst of punishment. There’s plenty that’s disgraceful in my deeds, but the seed of recovery sprouts even as I suffer the chastising rod of justice. How is this possible? Maybe the best answer is another question. Do you think He has had some experience with this duality in His creation before you and me? A mistake always precedes revival in His courtroom.     

You can see all five original verses here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/t/o/c/tocanaan.htm

 

Some very brief information about the composer is here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/g/o/l/golden_wm.htm

A few facts about the composer also are here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40666876

A Beautiful Life – William Matthew Golden

His words read like a pledge, such as one might make to a parole board in a penitentiary. William Matthew Golden certainly had an opinion in 1918 about what he thought “A Beautiful Life” might resemble, and perhaps that was because his life had not really gone the way he thought it should for someone whose aim was to enter into God’s presence. If a 40-something was in trouble, maybe in a prison and perhaps engaged in hard labor (as in this 1911 picture, in Mississippi’s state pen), yet thought about how to turn around his circumstances, what would he say? More importantly, what would he do to make good on his oath? Are you and I, more or less, in the same boat with William Golden?

In 1918, William Golden may have been a 42-year old state penitentiary inmate, whose circumstances might have compelled him to see that he needed to make some changes.  He reportedly wrote most of the 22 songs credited to him while in prison. He composed at least one song--“Will My Mother Know Me There?”-- in 1906, “To Canaan’s Land in 1914, and “A Beautiful Life” in 1918, but at what point his eight-year prison life began and ended is not clear. Also, did he initiate his songwriting habit while in prison, or before then? Since he was born and died in Mississippi, we can speculate that it was perhaps the state prison in Parchman (northwestern Mississippi), known as Parchman Farm in the Mississippi River Delta region, where Golden was incarcerated and made a vow about his future. It’s said that Golden (whose last name was originally Golding) served eight years for his prison term, so his crime may have been one of the comparatively lesser offenses, although there is no information on what he did to earn his sentence.  Could his songwriting have earned him good behavior points with the prison authorities? Was he the product of a chaplain at Parchman who helped him seek out reform, or was he self-taught? One also wonders if Golden’s new life manifested itself while he was still behind bars. If it did, he went about helping others who were sick, poor, or needy; practiced purity; and spoke kind words to others – all sentiments that he reasoned in his five verses were expressions of “A Beautiful Life”. Golden even added his own name to the first verse’s first line, perhaps as a means to remind himself that the words and proposed actions were an intimate promise.  

What exactly motivated William Golden’s songwriting ventures is unclear, but the Divine presence can use any situation to carry out His purposes. Was it the death of Golden’s one offspring in childhood that moved him initially to song composition, or a prison term, or some other events that are not known? Is Providence proscribed by any of these, or do they in fact hasten His influence? Whatever caused Golden’s descent into prison, that didn’t stop God from working in him, an insight that must have dawned upon this composer and moved him to generate most of his life’s musical output in that setting. Perhaps all of us should think of ourselves in a prison…    

See brief biographic information on composer here: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Golden_WM

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/g/o/l/golden_wm.htm

All five verses of the song here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/b/e/a/beautlif.htm

Another source of composer’s brief biography: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=40666876

Information on Mississippi state penitentiary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_State_Penitentiary