Jars of Clay Archives - Keith Shields

Can’t Erase It

Jars of Clay, the band from Greenville, Illinois, has a song entitled “Can’t Erase It” on the If I Left the Zoo album. The lyrics are written below. It is a song that captures the angst of trying to be one thing when we know we should be something else. Read the lyrics, listen to…

Inland

I have been listening to the songs on Jars of Clay’s album Inland since 2014, shortly after it came out. Some of my favourite songs on the album (I have previously written about some of these) include “After the Fight,” “Reckless Forgiver,” “Loneliness and Alcohol,” and “Fall Asleep.” (The amazing video for Fall Asleep can be…

Who Are You?

Do you ever have the feeling that it may be uncomfortable to reveal that you are a Christian? I confess that I have found myself in this position on a few occasions. For pastors like me, this can take the unique form of someone asking me what kind of work I do. When I say…

Body and Wine

I write a blog, first and foremost, as a place to work out my own faith. There are times when the best way to sort out what is going on is to spill out emotions and words. The first draft makes little sense. The edits make it a learning process. On a really good day…

Reckless Forgiver

The band Jars of Clay sings about a “Reckless Forgiver” (listen to the song here) on their album Inland. I leave it to your imagination as to who it is that truly forgives recklessly. I may not be fully capable of reckless forgiveness but I certainly could be more generous with my forgiveness. Reckless Forgiver(Composed…

Follow-Up to Much Afraid

The Much Afraid album contains a song called “Crazy Times.” Jars of Clay band members have said in interviews that this song is about how prayer is often “the last place we go.” I understand what they mean. We go about life without a thought about God and think that we are fine – for…

Much Afraid

It has been 17 years since the band “Jars of Clay” released their Much Afraid collection of songs. The album was influenced by the fact that band members had read Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. The following quote introduces the concept that Love and Pain go together. ‘She bent forward to look,…

Inland

I discovered a great new album last night: Inland by Jars of Clay. Released in August of 2013, this collection of songs sounds as good as previous albums like Who We Are Instead (2003) or Much Afraid (1997). The lyrics are mysterious, poetic, and haunting. They speak to the condition of every human soul. They…