Get all 6 Dennis Hendricksen releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Prelude to Mysterium, Intersecting Circles - Special Edition, Swimming in the Heart of the Sun, Hosanna - a Jazz Setting for Holy Communion, Dreams & Visions, and Very Nearly a Whisper.
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Dreams & Visions
When my eyes are closed
there are times I am gifted
with glimpses of God’s dreams –
of the way God intends the world to be,
of an unfolding beauty,
wonders unceasing,
and harmony throughout all.
When my eyes are opened
there are times I am provoked
by a clear vision of humanity’s failure –
of pain and suffering increasing,
of progress that regresses
in what should matter most.
When we hold on to God’s dream
we are awakened to new possibilities.
When we see with God’s vision
we perceive our incongruity.
Instead of drawing to the centre,
aligning ourselves to God’s dream,
we aim to have everything revolve around us –
and with such self-serving vertigo
we fall away from life that is fully alive.
May we have clear visions, and new dreams.
May our freedom be for the whole
rather than the ego exclusive.
May we see ourselves within the circle of creation,
borne to the centre by infinite love.
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Lament for a Landscape
In the beginning the sun's rays
spread across the land
revealing a panoply of shape and colour:
water & earth, rocks & trees,
plants & animals - life!
An explosion of variety and complexity –
yet beauty within the convolution,
harmony within the chaos.
And God saw that it was good.
Then on the horizon
storm clouds formed,
the sky darkened, the air changed –
a cold front pushed through the land,
leaves quivered,
as if the trees knew what was coming...
wholesale destruction
fed by human greed.
And now the sun is blocked
by big boxes of concrete and steel,
where the only greenery is plastic
and devoid of life.
We paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
All is perfect and orderly, we say –
straight lines and under control.
Yet already
there are cracks in the pavement.
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3. |
Hiatus #1 - Reflection
02:23
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Reflection
Blue surface ripples
Wind calls forth, whispers, then still -
Reflection resolves
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Light Piercing Water
What is this water that falls from the sky?
Is it the gift of life,
sent to nourish plants and animals?
Or is it the tears of an injured earth,
the consequence of human arrogance?
Water brings life.
Water also brings death.
Not all deaths evoke grief however;
death to sin,
the drowning of self-absorption -
allowing for re-birth,
bringing forth a new creation.
Water droplets pierced by light
reveal a multi-hued bow,
sign of a promise as big as the world.
Water saturated by the light of the son
anointing the multi-hued skin of many,
reveals a promise
eternal as the first elements of creation,
a covenant as big as the universe.
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The Stones Shout
Stones lay in the dust where they fell;
acts of judgment concluded,
acts of vengeance compounded.
Oh, who will gather these stones together
to make a sanctuary for us all?
We strew history with our stones;
we are more apt to demolish than build, see –
the scattered stones shout out their testimony!
Oh who will transform the stones
that are our hearts?
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6. |
Hiatus #2 - Revelation
02:17
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Revelation
Grey ground, hard and dry
Trembles with eternal sound –
Revelation blooms
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Unexpected • Undeserved
The barren wilderness is the last place
you would expect to find
a prodigal sower of seeds.
Yet in this unlikely place one appeared,
offering new life for all,
including the excluded –
those on the fringes,
those who live in desolation
of one kind or another.
Around this grower of grace
a crowd gathered;
curious, hopeful and ultimately demanding.
Some followed his call to new pathways –
he led them through the desert of despair
to higher elevations, verdant and sanguine.
Few, if any, saw the pinnacle looming.
No one truly understood
where the fullness of love would lead.
No one expected it would all end
in such a dreadful manner,
death – it is finished –
executed upon a mountain's crown.
There are voices that say this ending
was only a beginning
of a whole new world –
glimpsed in an upper room,
and a barren tomb.
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Smoke & Fire Unleashed
Spite set a world on fire,
the ground beneath our feet
burned red with uncontrollable fury,
the sky above our heads
blotted out with the oily smoke residue of sin.
Greed, pride and a swollen sense of entitlement,
narcissism unleashed, the cult of self exploded.
The earth groaned and coughed,
blood and oil spilt on the desert sand.
The sickened, saturated ground
called out to the Creator –
echoes of Cain’s guilt.
Even now, in one form or another,
it continues –
the heavens choke,
the earth bleeds,
creation groans.
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9. |
Hiatus #3 - Restoration
02:30
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Restoration
Golden light rises
Clouds unveil, colours expand –
Restoration whole
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10. |
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Blinding Dawn
“The morning! The morning!” I cried,
“I am caught in the morning and I am a ghost.”
C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
Twelve open gates,
Twelve jewels,
Twelve fruits of the tree of life,
Twelve foundations.
Outside,
The howling dark,
One gate, one death,
One way down.
Here I am,
With my one thing,
My own one way,
My sweet idolatries.
Dawn,
Hurts eyes,
Blind from seeing,
Seeing blind.
The voice that cries,
“Maranatha, “ “Come,”
“Come,” “Maranatha,”
Makes hearing deaf.
Here in the dark,
I shut those gates,
Tight,
Lock them up.
Turn off the switch,
Not to see,
With eyes,
Blinded by light.
Turn down the volume
Not to hear
With ears
Deaf from sound.
Still
There is a radiance here
That makes the blind to see.
A holy holy holy
That makes the deaf to hear.
Maranatha,
A deep down sound in things rumbles,
Come,
Beloved come.
Here in this dark place,
Locked,
Deaf,
Blind,
The Spirit calls.
O God
grant me
mercy
to go.
Poem by Harry O. Maier
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Dennis Hendricksen regina, Saskatchewan
Dennis Hendricksen is a multi-instrumentalist from the Canadian prairies. His music often blends elements of jazz, ambient, funk, rock and experimental. His soundtrack work has won awards, and his big work released in 2014 "Dreams & Visions" was nominated for 3 Covenant Awards. Dennis is more interested in being creative than in being commercial. His recordings reflect this creative philosophy. ... more
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