One of my favourite singer-songwriters, David Ramirez, is playing at the Railway Club in Vancouver tonight, and a number of us are going to see him.

I first came across his music at a prayer retreat on Bowen Island. At a communal prayer meeting we listened to this song, "Find the Light" which I had never heard before. It is a beautiful meditation on what the singer "wishes" over someone, wishes that include things needed but not things wanted; old life with a young heart; joy mixed with pain; an open mind that still discerns; ears to listen and control over the tongue; and most of all love. The chorus affirms that even in the darkness, the light may be found.

It reminded me a ton of the wisdom in the biblical book of James, and seemed such a departure from the sickly sweet sentimentality of most modern music.

I started playing and singing that song for the guys in the treatment program at Harbour Light on Wednesday mornings, and it went over really well. So I was thrilled when he came to town and my friend Melina and I got to see him. I talked with him after the show (his shows are still pretty small, at least in this neck of the woods) and told him the impact his song was making on guys going through some pretty heavy stuff.

He said, "Wait, you're playing my song for guys in treatment? Like, guys dealing with alcohol and drugs and stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Whoa. That's really bad-ass that you're doing that."

Here's that song, Find The Light:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjLLVuzhwUQ