I discovered Peter Mayer’s music about five years ago. This eclectic guitarist who plays lead guitar for Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band is more than a rock ‘n’ roller. He is also a very spiritual musician.
As a child, he lived in India with his missionary parents. During those years, he says that he witnessed the love of Jesus while listening to the Indian people sing hymns in their native tongue of Tamil. It is evident that both his western and eastern upbringing has an influence on his music.
Whether it was his rock ‘n’ roll music or his simple guitar-driven anthems, Mayer feels that he was motivated to know that through God’s spirit, “we are all connected to God’s persistent uprising, beyond what we suspect.”
I found something unexpected in Mayer’s music. His soulful uplifting rhythms and thoughtful lyrics are often places that I turn to when I want to be led to the feet of God.
“Holy Now” reminds me that God is everywhere, in all, through all, and for all - that God doesn’t just dwell behind the walls of the church, but also out in the world. So, keep your eyes, ears, and hearts open, you never know where you might find “a little red-winged bird…singing like a scripture verse.”
You can listen to “Holy Now” here.
“Holy Now”
When I was a boy each week Sunday we would go to church Pay attention to the priest And he would read the holy word Consecrate the holy bread Everyone would kneel and bow Today the only difference is Everything is holy now Everything, everything, everything is holy now When I was in Sunday school We would learn about the time Moses split the sea in two And Jesus made the water wine I remember feeling sad Miracles don’t happen still But now I can’t keep track, ‘Cause everything’s a miracle Everything, everything, everything’s a miracle Wine from water is not so small An even better magic trick, is that anything is here at all So the challenging thing becomes Not to look for miracles, but finding where there isn’t one When holy water was rare at best Barely wet my fingertips But now I have to hold my breath Like I’m swimming in a sea of it It used to be a world half there Heaven’s second-rate hand-me-down I walk it with a reverent air ‘Cause everything is holy now Read a questioning child’s face Say it’s not a testament, that’d be very hard to say See another new morning come Say it’s not a sacrament, I tell you that it can’t be done This morning outside I stood Saw a little red-winged bird Shining like a burning bush And singing like a scripture verse Made me want to bow my head I remember when church let out How things have changed since then ‘Cause everything is holy now It used to be a world half there Heaven’s second-rate hand-me-down I walk it with a reverent air ‘Cause everything is holy now ©1999 Peter Mayer Music, BMI