(Photo :Todd MacDonald)

To borrow a phrase from John Piper, Todd MacDonald did not waste his cancer.  Instead of just seeking for healing, MacDonald sought the Healer.  Instead of wallowing in despair, MacDonald travelled across the nation preaching Christ through his songs.  Instead of wasting away in between chemotherapies, MacDonald spent his time between appointments recording this album.  At the end of the day though MacDonald lost to the battle of cancer, he won the war against Satan who wants us to "grieve like the rest of man, without hope" (1 Thess. 4:13).   Rewind back to the year 2004, after MacDonald graduated from Gordon-Conwell Seminary with a Masters of Divinity degree, he left for Nashville to pursue a music career.  Shortly after, MacDonald released his debut record "Pilgrims Here;" after which he sang regularly at his home church Immanuel Presbyterian Church when he was not travelling.  However, in January of 2009, Todd was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Peritoneal Mesothelioma.  After months of wrestling with the malignancy, MacDonald went home to be with Jesus on May 12, 2012.  "World Full of Wonder," MacDonald's sophomore record was released posthumously by his family.  Thus, it is with a whiff of sadness we come to review "World Full of Wonder."   

Nestling his light flare tenor with a folkish vibe among an exquisite collection of twelve songs, these paeans recall the writings of MacDonald's hero Christian artist Keith Green.  They are a rare twin combination of warm, well-crafted melodies and well-thought out lyrics. "World Full of Wonder" defies the genre tag, they are mix-bag of folk, country and 70s pop that somehow calls to mind Elton John in his heydays when the songs have a glowing simplicity yet they are never trite or repetitive.  Easily the tour-de-force here is the title cut "World Full of Wonder."  Despite being written during his bout with cancer, the lyrics are never God-depreciating.  Rather, with picturesque language, MacDonald describes seeing the beauty of God in the splendid colors of an autumn morning that makes his heart delight in the Maker.  All of this is couch in a melody as kaleidoscopic as the Fall colors the song is describing.  Don't let the title of "Woo Hoo Hoo" caricature the song of its richly textured lyrics of MacDonald's need to praise God in what is a Beatles-esque pop tune.  Creativity earmarks lead single "Lord of the Valley." The incessant downward progression of chords on "Lord of the Valley" aptly follows the lyrics descend as MacDonald sings about God traversing with us down to our valley moments.

Those who like an excursion from the guitar and drum blasts of today's music will fall in love with "A Little Bit Like Me."  Imbued with the rustic-sounding banjo and free flowing sound of the acoustic guitar, the bluegrassy "A Little Like Me" draws on the parallels between what God is doing in nature and our lives.  This is child-like beauty to the song's simplistic structure without being childish.  "Lies," on the other hand, has a more bluesy bite with a more swampy like bass to it.  Calling to mind the wit of C. S. Lewis in his Screwtape Letters, here sin gets personified as a way of warning us about its damage it can do to us. "Spirit Wind" shifts gears back to his acoustic guitar terrain where MacDonald sings praise to the most overlooked person in the Trinity: the Holy Spirit.  Creatively exploring the Holy Spirit and how He is often associated with the "wind" metaphor in Scripture, this piece is more than just a delight to the ear but it is a rich Biblical expositional tome.

Maybe the most autobiographical is the string-laden ballad "Don't Cry for Me."  Considering what we know about MacDonald, it's a challenge to fight back the tears as this Boston native reflects on his hope in Jesus Christ in the light of his sufferings.  To all who of us who will miss and grieve over MacDonald's death, he comforts us by singing:  "By breaking me, He's (God's) making me whole/The lower I go, the higher I fly/It is well, O it well with my soul."  This, my friends, is what true Godliness is about.  MacDonald never wasted his life; he didn't waste his sufferings; and he didn't trash his cancer.  Everything, even cancer, can be used for the glory of God.  Todd MacDonald's "World Full of Wonder" is testimonial to this; and this is the highest honor one can ever say about a record.