Steve Bell releases album of solace

Like many musicians, Christian singer and songwriter Steve Bell gets fan mail. But over the years he noticed that one subject kept coming up again and again in the letters and e-mails: death.

“I kept reading about how my songs helped people cope with the end of life,” says Bell, noting that many letters came from people who were dying, or from their caregivers.

For a long time, he regarded it as an interesting and touching aspect of his work and ministry. Then Ben McLean, a longtime friend, wrote to say he was dying of cancer and added that Bell’s songs were a great comfort as he approached the end of his life. He went on to suggest Bell create a special CD for people like him, who were dying.

“Ben wasn’t the first person to suggest an album like that, but he was the first to spell it out in great detail,” Bell says, adding that McLean included a list of songs that were helpful to him as he was dying. “I instantly knew I had to act on his suggestion.”

The result is “Solace for Seasons of Suffering,” a new collection of classic songs by Bell such as “Wings of an Eagle,” “Ever Present Need,” “For the Journey” and “Remember Me,” among others. The album is dedicated to McLean, who died last year.

Bell also sought advice from people involved in hospice and palliative care about what songs to include. He was especially concerned that, because he is a Christian songwriter, some might see the album as a “sneak attack” on vulnerable people.

“I’m a Christian, and I write from a Christian worldview,” he says. “But this is not an evangelistic album. These are process songs, not wrap-up songs. . . . They’re written for people who don’t know how things will turn out.”

The album comes along at a time when using music to comfort and support the dying is becoming more common in hospice and palliative care programs across Canada. According to Jim Wiebe, who teaches music therapy at Winnipeg’s Canadian Mennonite University, music can be of great comfort during times of fear, grief, anxiety, sadness and anger – all feelings that can arise when someone is dying.

“Music can soothe us when we’re troubled,” Wiebe says. “It’s God’s gift to us, and can put people in touch with God at a time when they are most tender, such as when they are dying. It is solace for the soul.”

Wiebe saw the power of music first-hand in June, when his mother-in-law was dying. During her final days, she was often upset and agitated. “When we sang for her, it calmed her down,” he says.

Dr. Margaret Cottle, a palliative care physician from Vancouver, advised Bell on the creation of the album. She says his songs are particularly helpful because of his contemplative style and because his lyrics “aren’t simplistic. They acknowledge that there are some things on this side of heaven that we just won’t understand.”

For Bell, it’s humbling to know that his music is helping people through difficult times like illness and dying.

But along with providing comfort to people near the end of their lives, Bell hopes to change the way we view death and dying. “We need to honour that season, just as we honour seasons like birth, adolescence, marriage and other times,” he says. “I don’t want to minimize the suffering that comes from losing a loved one, or viewing the end of your own life, but there is a beauty to that time of life, too.”

Along with the CD of songs, the album contains a second CD of interviews with former Winnipeg theology professor John Stackhouse and local Anglican pastor Jamie Howison about topics such as death and whether God can be trusted. “It’s about why bad things happen to people.”

In addition to making the album available for sale, Bell is soliciting donations so he can give away copies to pastors, chaplains, doctors and others who work with dying people. He is launching the album Sept. 25, and will also sing and talk about it Sept. 23 at the annual Manitoba Hospice and Palliative Care conference.

John Longhurst is director of communication and marketing for Canadian Mennonite University and a columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press. This is a recent column.