Books by Dale Harris

Books by Dale Harris
A Feast of Epiphanies

Though I Walk, A Novel

Daytime Moons and Other Celestial Anomalies, a book of poems

Second Wind

Second Wind
An album of songs both old and new. Recorded in 2021, a year of major transition for me, these songs explore the many vicissitudes of the spiritual life,. It's about the mountaintop moments and the Holy Saturday sunrises, the doors He opens that no one can close, and those doors He's closed that will never open again. You can click the image above to give it a listen.

The Song Became a Child

The Song Became a Child
A collection of Christmas songs I wrote and recorded during the early days of the pandemic lockdown in the spring of 2020. Click the image to listen.

There's a Trick of the Light I'm Learning to Do

This is a collection of songs I wrote and recorded in January - March, 2020 while on sabbatical from ministry. They each deal with a different aspect or expression of the Gospel. Click on the image above to listen.

Three Hands Clapping

This is my latest recording project (released May 27, 2019). It is a double album of 22 songs, which very roughly track the story of my life... a sort of musical autobiography, so to speak. Click the album image to listen.

Ghost Notes

Ghost Notes
A collections of original songs I wrote in 2015, and recorded with the FreeWay Musical Collective. Click the album image to listen.

inversions

Recorded in 2014, these songs are sort of a chronicle of my journey through a pastoral burn-out last winter. They deal with themes of mental-health, spiritual burn-out and depression, but also with the inexorable presence of God in the midst of darkness. Click the album art to download.

soundings

soundings
click image to download
"soundings" is a collection of songs I recorded in September/October of 2013. Dealing with themes of hope, ache, trust and spiritual loss, the songs on this album express various facets of my journey with God.

bridges

bridges
Click to download.
"Bridges" is a collection of original songs I wrote in the summer of 2011, during a soul-searching trip I took out to Alberta; a sort of long twilight in the dark night of the soul. I share it here in hopes these musical reflections on my own spiritual journey might be an encouragement to others: the sun does rise, blood-red but beautiful.

echoes

echoes
Prayers, poems and songs (2005-2009). Click to download
"echoes" is a collection of songs I wrote during my time studying at Briercrest Seminary (2004-2009). It's called "echoes" partly because these songs are "echoes" of times spent with God from my songwriting past, but also because there are musical "echoes" of hymns, songs or poems sprinkled throughout the album. Listen closely and you'll hear them.

Accidentals

This collection of mostly blues/rock/folk inspired songs was recorded in the spring and summer of 2015. I call it "accidentals" because all of the songs on this project were tunes I have had kicking around in my notebooks for many years but had never found a "home" for on previous albums. You can click the image to download the whole album.

random reads

Just in Time, a devotional thought

The other day I was reading Acts 24-25, and it occurred to me that God’s timeline for our lives unfolds in his own way and at his own pace, and it does not always make a lot of sense from a human perspective. Here we have Paul being held in custody by the Roman Governor in Caesarea, because the Jewish Leaders had him arrested in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Roman officials aren’t really sure what to do with him (he’s on trial for a matter of Jewish law, not Roman), so they defer his case until he can be properly tried.

 And then in Acts 24:27, in a rather off hand way, it says, “But after two years had passed, Governor Felix was succeeded by Governor Festus.” Wishing to earn political points with leadership in Jerusalem, Felix decided not to release Paul from prison before he left. Paul went to Jerusalem at the leading of the Holy Spirit, with a sure word from Jesus that he will, eventually, preach the Gospel in Rome itself, and yet for all appearances, his mission has been stalled out for two years in Caesarea. 

Two years is a long time in the life span of a ministry. A lot can change, a lot can come unravelled, a lot of opportunities can be missed. And I imagine it was pretty easy to wonder, at some point during that two-year waiting game, if God was really up to anything? Had God forgotten Paul in prison? Would he really get to Rome in the end?

Of course, as the story progresses it will become clear that God was doing all sorts of things behind the scenes in those two years, to make sure Paul got to Rome (Historical note: Governor Festus, who replaces Felix at the end of two years, is one of the more honest and trustworthy governors Judea had. Unlike Felix, who kept hoping for a bribe from Paul, Festus hears his appeal to Caesar and promptly sends him to Rome). If you are in the middle of something that feels stuck—and maybe you’ve been waiting years for God to unstick it—take heart from Paul’s example today. It may not be that God is working out a change of Roman Governorship for you, but even so, you can trust that he is never not at work, behind the scenes, to bring about his very good purpose for you.

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