September 13, 2016   Interviews by CMP Lead Designer Bryan Sirchio

Bryan:  Mark, we really feel privileged that you’re a part of CMP as one of our contributing songwriters and song evaluators.  Your music means a lot to us and to so many people, and to think that CMP will be a company through which you can make some of your new songs available  to the world  means so much to us.  Please say something about why you’ve chosen to be so enthusiastically involved with the Convergence Music Project as we launch this new venture.

Mark:  Thanks Bryan.  Well you know I’ve written a lot of music over the years that’s published through various publishers in the Hymnals or choral anthems.  The quickest turnaround is usually 8 months, 10 months, a year, 2 years...  So one of the reasons I’m really excited about CMP is because of our idea of “rolling admissions” if you will.  Particularly in today’s society where things are happening in critical ways and people are immediately aware of what’s going on.  I think a lot of people would love to be able to find a song—maybe one that’s been created specifically in response to what’s happening right now—that they can use either in their church setting or somewhere else pretty much right away.  I think CMP is going to provide a critical piece that’s missing in our sacred life where there will be music available right away.  I love the idea that I’ll be able to create something and publish it onto the CMP site almost immediately—not that we won’t have some kind of quality control, but it’s a much more stream lined process to get the music out there to people.

Bryan:  That’s actually a big part of why CMP has come into being, and I can’t tell you how thrilled we are to have composers like yourself sharing some of your newest material with us.

Mark:  CMP is also going to be great I think because of the theological lense through which we look at the world and the values that we want to see embraced in our communities of faith.  For me, what’s equally important as the speed with which we can release things is the theological viewpoint and Scriptural references and the place that we’re coming from.  I call it different things—the 21st century perspective, progressive—some might say  “convergence.”  I think this is really critical.

Bryan:  Thanks Mark.  That’s one of the things we’re most excited about and probably the single most important reason why CMP has come into being—to have a theologically curated source of songs that churches can use and trust theologically.   We don’t want to be overly legalistic or pharisaical about language and lyrics,  and we don’t want to come across as the progressive “thought or word police.”  But we also don’t want church musicians and pastors to have to filter through 20 songs to find one that they can truly resonate with theologically.  And again Mark, this is why we feel so blessed to have composers like yourself working with us.  Not only do you have exceptional artistic and creative gifts, but you get the theological perspective at the heart of CMP and you’re enthused about writing into that specific space.

Mark:  Thanks.  Yes, this is really exciting.

Bryan:  Mark, there’s one other thing I wanted to touch upon with you if you’re willing.  You had an unbelievably special moment this past summer as a composer, even though it came about because of a very tragic and sad set of circumstances in our nation.  I wondered if you’d be willing to share a bit about this with our audience.

Mark:   Yes.  It was, as you remember, kind of this crisis moment in our country.  Philandro Castile and Alton Sterling were both killed by police and then in Dallas, 9 police officers were killed.  There was a moment where the memorial service in Dallas occurred where the president and former president were both in attendance, and the person directing the music—I’d never met this person—but I heard that he or she had chosen to use one of my pieces in that memorial service.  This was a really humbling moment.  It was the piece, “I Believe,” and the words are “I believe in the sun even when it’s not shining.  I believe in love even when I don’t feel it.  I believe in God even when God is silent.”  Those words helped me through a difficult time in my own life about 5 or 6 years ago.  People seem to really resonate with those words when they hear them.  They were actually first written by Jews who were hiding from Nazi’s in World War II.   These words of faith in the midst of incredible sorrow were sustaining for them as they were being persecuted, surrounded by hate, and with their own lives at stake.  And that really spoke to me because I wanted to also believe in love, even when hate was all around me.  I think it’s a real creed for our day.  We might not agree on a whole lot of things, but I want us to believe in love even when hate is all around.

Bryan:  Beautiful Mark.  I can only imagine what a blessing it was to you to know that a piece of music of yours that was birthed through your own pain wound up finding its way into a moment of that magnitude in our country.  And really this is one of the things I admire most about your music and how you use your gifts Mark—your ability to get in touch deeply with your own personal experience and then to create something out of that place of joy or pain that has a more universal theme and that just about everyone else can relate to.   In fact this actually reminds me a bit of the new song of yours that is now available on the CMP site.  Let’s end our interview with a few words about that song.

Mark:  Sure.  It’s called “Surrounded by Love.”  I found out in January of 2016 that I was going to need some pretty serious surgery, and so I was going into this really intense period.  I thought, you know, even in the midst of this life and death moment, which could have ended my career or even my life, you know, I had all these question marks.  But even then, I really felt the love of God through others surrounding me.  It really brought home my own faith in the power of love and that in our most difficult moments God is with us through that love and surrounding us with love. 

Surrounded By Love

Wordsand Music by Mark Miller

Copyright 2016 Mark A. Miller

When you come to the desert alone

And your strength is almost gone

And the fear overshadows the dawn

You are still surrounded by love

When your world seems to fall apart

All that’s left is a broken heart

And you’re not even sure where to start

You are still surrounded by love

We will still surround you with love.

Still, still, we will still surround you with love.

Still, still, we will still surround you with love.

Love is all around you, we will still surround you with love

Bryan:  Well I can’t think of a better way to end this interview than with those words Mark—except to tell folks that they can listen to you sitting down at your piano and playing and singing that song on CMP’s website https://www.convergencemp.com/product-details.php?post=141