“Keep on believing, God is soaring above a world that’s running out of love/Pouring hope out over us, his angel doves”
— from “Angel Doves”
Fans of folk and country music know that these styles contain more optimistic references to faith than many contemporary genres. That’s not surprising, given their roots in gospel music—the same stock that produced their Nashville counterpart, contemporary Christian music. This vocabulary of faith has a variety of sources—frequently difficult to pinpoint, and often unnecessary for appreciation of the album. But in the case of Mindy Smith, the language of trust and vulnerability has a very personal foundation that enriches the already appealing honesty of her 2004 debut album One Moment More.
One important element of Smith’s spiritual vocabulary, the language of “chosen-ness,” stems from her adoption as an infant. “I truly believe that God picks me up and puts me where he wants me to be,” she writes in the album’s liner notes. She credits her father, a minister, for her belief in God, and her mother, a church musician, for her love of music. Her mother died of cancer when Mindy was only 19, inspiring the album’s title song, and launching Mindy on a journey of grief that taught her the language of brokenness and hope.
After a period of creating music in Cincinnati and Knoxville, Smith developed both a following and the courage to make her way to Nashville. A frustrating experience with Christian publishers resulted in Smith’s transition to the mainstream market, where the demos she created garnered attention from several major labels. She signed with independent Vanguard, where she’d have the artistic freedom to use a variety of musical styles that wouldn’t box her into any specific genre. The resulting One Moment More has caused her mentor Dolly Parton to suggest that Mindy is one of the great musicians of our time.
Smith uses simple love songs and psalm-like confessions to create an album that’s a tribute to the rocky and bittersweet path taken by many who seek God. “When I have to struggle, I put a prayer out there and a lot of times my songs end up being a vehicle for doing that,” Smith told National Public Radio. Many of the songs display a raw and serious understanding of human frailty, the joys and sorrows of relationship, and the need for trust and redemption in times of trouble. “Raggedy Ann,” an Alison Krauss styled ballad, uses poetry and the language of brokenness to illustrate vulnerability and the futility of denying our faults. From “Hurricane” and the lullaby “Angel Doves” to the southern gospel/rock of her first single “Come to Jesus,” Smith’s songs often call on God to make sense of suffering and loneliness. In the refrain of “Come to Jesus” she cries, “Child, when life don’t seem worth living/come to Jesus/and let him hold you in his arms.”
But life holds more than pain, and Smith sees brokenness hand-in-hand with the possibility for change. “Hard To Know,” an edgy rock song (think No Doubt), pushes for personal change while “Fighting for it All” celebrates determination and perseverance. Both the gentle “Down in Flames” and the upbeat “It’s Amazing” celebrate the process of becoming as she sings, “You’re just a growing, beautiful someone.”
It’s not always an explicitly Christian album, and there are a couple of swear words to be found. Still, Smith’s songs are refreshingly honest about the joy and pain of human relationship, containing the truth about our brokenness before God and the quest to feel our redemption. Mindy Smith seems to understand the incarnation of hope that God’s presence in the world brings to everyday human experience, and because of this, One Moment More offers not only prayers, but also the very hope that God pours out over us.
Unless specified clearly, we are not implying whether this artist is or is not a Christian. The views expressed are simply the author’s. For a more complete description of our Glimpses of God articles, click here.
