God of All
About the Song
Artist: VNV Nation
Album: Noire
Release: 2018
Album Information & Official Lyrics: https://vnvnation.com/releases/noire
Introduction
In the evocative song “God of All,” Irish musician and VNV Nation founder Ronan Harris delves into the depths of spiritual yearning and disillusionment. Through poignant lyrics and a haunting melody, Harris captures the anguish of an individual grappling with a profound crisis of faith.
About the Artist
VNV Nation, an electronic music project helmed by Irish musician Ronan Harris, has carved a unique niche in the music world with its blend of industrial, synth-pop, and trance elements. Their music often explores themes of spirituality, existentialism, and the human condition, resonating with a dedicated fanbase. Harris, the creative force behind VNV Nation, is known for his introspective songwriting, powerful vocals, and captivating stage presence.
Analysis and Commentary
In “God of All,” Ronan Harris creates a poignant depiction of an individual grappling with a crisis of faith. This person directly addresses their higher power, expressing their sadness and frustration with the current state of humanity through a heartfelt prayer.
The speaker doesn’t hold back, expressing their feelings of abandonment by God in a frank and direct manner. In their solitary quest for sacred meaning and truth, they lament that their search has been fruitless. They have traversed vast and desolate landscapes, only to find themselves in forgotten temples – once occupied by great leaders who often claimed divine lineage but now lay forgotten by time. The speaker also reveals their anguish over fleeting moments where they believed they heard the voice of God, only to have these experiences fade into mere illusions.
“The line, the line is broken,” the voice cries out, a lament echoing through the ages. This broken line symbolizes not just a loss of faith, but a profound disconnect from the divine and ultimately nature, a chasm that seems impossible to bridge. The path back to that sacred connection, once clear and vibrant, has vanished, leaving only the shifting sands of time. The speaker, adrift in this spiritual wilderness, faces a horizon filled with fires of conflict and suffering.
The prayer takes a pointed turn, the speaker expressing their longing for divine knowledge and wisdom, only to find it scattered and unattainable. Like a child confronting absent parents, the speaker addresses God directly, questioning the relationship between the divine and humanity. Despite humanity’s repeated calls for guidance, they’ve been left to navigate a chaotic world alone, forced to find their own way. This abandonment has had dire consequences. Instead of worshiping a God of Love, humanity has chosen the path of War, believing that salvation lies in conflict and subjugation. The speaker’s initial cry of sadness and heartbreak evolves into profound frustration tinged with anger, exposing the perceived shortcomings of God as a parental figure.
The prayer concludes with a repetition of the chorus, underscoring the speaker’s profound sense of hopelessness and despair. Even their direct appeals to God are met with resounding silence, leaving them adrift in a spiritual void. Their unanswered calls and unfulfilled longing for connection paint a bleak picture of a world where the divine seems distant and indifferent, leaving humanity to grapple with the consequences of their isolation. The final repetition of the chorus serves as a haunting reminder of this disconnection, leaving the listener to ponder the implications of a world where the cries of the human heart echo unanswered in the vast expanse of existence.
For fellow Unitarian Universalists, the feelings and themes expressed in this piece should resonate deeply. Our faith tradition has become a sanctuary for those who, like the protagonist, yearn for divine guidance and sacred truth, only to find themselves adrift in a sea of despair, feeling abandoned or let down. Yet, unlike the speaker, we do not lament the silence of a distant God. Instead, we embrace the understanding that we are the masters of our own destinies. We recognize that the responsibility to resurrect the God of Love from exile rests solely upon our shoulders. No deity or monarch can achieve this for us. Our path back to the divine must be forged in this life, through our actions and choices. Salvation is not a gift bestowed from on high, but a destination we reach through our deeds.
It is through our individual spiritual practices that we awaken to divine knowledge, meaning, and truth. This awakening includes recognizing the sacredness and divinity of our natural world—our Earth, our Common Mother. In honoring her, we not only reclaim our spiritual autonomy but also actively participate in the healing and renewal of our world, fostering a deeper connection to the divine within and all around us. God will not speak through human language, but through the sounds of our natural world. It is only when we allow ourselves to hear more than the wind across the stone will we hear the voice of God.