Cover photo: Sofia receiving the sacrament of confirmation in Rancho Cucamonga, California - during the pandemic!
WITH US (WITHIN US)
ft. Dan Forkey
Fire (is with us, within us)
Fire (is with us, within us)
Named with the saints
Claimed by the chrism
Come Holy Spirit, your mission ablaze
One hand on earth
And the other in heaven
All of the Church said for me:
There is freedom in the flame and wind
Spirit seal us in the gifts you give
Wings of fire make us more of you
So we can speak and live and breathe your truth
Fire (is with us, within us)
Fire (is with us, within us)
Named with the saints
Claimed by the chrism
Come Holy Spirit, and kindle our hearts
One hand on earth
And the other in heaven
The Kingdom is coming in me
The sacrament of confirmation seals with the Holy Spirit anew, strengthening its gifts that we received at baptism and uniting us more closely to Christ so that we may be sent forth on mission to bear witness to the faith. It is often viewed as a spiritual “coming-of-age.”
“With Us, Within Us” is a fast-paced pop-rock song in the key of D-flat Major, driven by piano and electric guitar. The song takes center stage on For Eden as the track that most explicitly embodies the genre of contemporary Christian music (CCM).
We wrote "With Us (Within Us)" from a word cloud, emphasizing provocative words and phrases we felt best expressed the sacrament (“freedom,” “Spirit,” and “wings of fire”). It is the most fun to perform, and perhaps the most exhilarating!
- The bold piano riff throughout the song climbs higher and higher, fluttering at the top like a fiery bird; the contrasting electric guitar vamp that churns underneath adds texture and steadies the rhythm. We call it the "electric saint riff." The ideation for the guitar line was not musically notated beforehand but rather came to life in the studio, a real gift of the Holy Spirit at work in real time!
- The male voice sings “fire” like a match is struck; the female’s “is with us, within us” echoes like the Holy Spirit is physically behind us, carrying us forward with wind from its wings. Together, both fire and bird tell us that in the renewing, almost regenerative sacrament of confirmation, fire is with us and within us, the Holy Spirit sent as both our advocate alongside and our animating, life-giving breath within.
- The song audibly gathers energy in both instrumentation and voicing with movement to the prechoruses, characterized by descriptive lyrics rich in confirmation ritual text, and a melodic rhyme scheme that blooms to emphasize key components of the Rite itself: “named,” “saints,” “claimed,” “chrism,” “Spirit.”
How did this song make you feel? What does that feeling say about the sacrament itself?
