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"Harvesting the Weeds" by Dawson Shorman: A Prayer for Breaking Hard Ground


Dawson Shorman - Harvesting the Weeds

(by Jasper Tan) "Harvesting the Weeds" is the first single from Dawson Shorman's debut album, which will be released this May. The song is an introspective indie Christian track that talks about burnout, self-deception, and faith in the current times. Dawson makes use of agricultural imagery as a metaphor for this song. In this very demanding world, especially in this age of social media, we are too concerned about gaining attention and affirmation from the people around us to the point that sometimes we are left with an empty soul as we lose ourselves to the world just to feel belongingness to certain norms of the world. In this song, Dawson re-centers his attention to God and surrenders himself in prayer as he longs to belong to Christ once more.

Set to an energetic sound of pop with a flare of rock, this CCM song offers a fresh take on trying to make Christian Contemporary Music belong to mainstream music as Dawson seeks to deliver the message that he is bringing to a generation of listeners that might have lost themselves in the madness of this current affirmation-driven generation. The song repeatedly speaks about shallow praises, driven by the need to be accepted and loved, but only to find out that these are not rooted in the purity of the word, but as a way of being self-absorbed rather than self-giving.

The song reminds me of the parable of the wheat and the weeds as told in Matthew 13:24–30. While we try to live and thrive in this world, when the end of days arrives, only Jesus will be the sower that sows the good seeds and brings them along to heaven. And to be a good seed, one must recognize that ultimately it is God's grace that will set us free. And embracing him in our lives is the only way to salvation.

(Related scripture: Matthew 13:24-30; John 4:13-14; Jeremiah 4:3; Hosea 10:12)

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