Anna Paddock’s beautiful song captures the seeming simplicity of Lydia’s conversion juxtaposed with the depth of the life changing event in Acts 16:13-15 for Spark and Echo Arts' Bible Illumination Project.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

This song is written from the perspective of Lydia. As I spent time reading this passage, it struck me as an interesting conversion story. Lydia seemed to have her life in order and wasn’t in a state of physical need or apparent desperation of any kind. She was already a follower of God, had a family, lived in the city, and was an established working woman. And yet, on presumably just an ordinary Sabbath day, she heard a message from strangers that inspired her to believe and be baptized. “The Lord opened her heart”, it says, and I wonder what that felt like to her in that moment. It’s a mysterious thing, and yet I can relate to the feeling of knowing that our seemingly mundane existences can be interrupted with inexplainable heart awakenings and understandings, and it was a reminder to me to stop and listen.

ARTIST BIO:

Anna Paddock is a singer-songwriter and pianist based in Brooklyn, NY, although her family roots are in Manitoba, Canada. Anna studied piano at Trinity Western University and then received her Masters in Music Theory and Composition from New York University. Anna has collaborated with filmmakers, choreographers, and other songwriters as a composer and vocalist, and released her first solo album, “Feel Better” in 2013. She currently teaches in New York, and recently released a self-titled EP “The Lay Awakes” – a collaboration with her husband (rockstar Canadian paralympian) Patrick Anderson. Anna and Patrick make their home with their baby boy, Stanley, and are members of Resurrection Williamsburg Church.

Stop Listen

Stop Listen - Anna Paddock

Spark and Echo Arts is creating or commissioning a work of art, music, theatre, poetry, dance, or film in response to every verse of the Bible.