This is a copy of the letter I'm mailing out for those on the interested or pre-ordered list --> or maybe this is just an annoying spam message and you should delete it w/o looking at it. Anyway...some of this, you may already know, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to email it to those whose current addresses I don't know. (hey...if you KNOW you pre-ordered one, and I don't have your current address, that would be something you'll WANT TO FIX)

here it is...

I told him I couldn't remember where I left off...where I was before I got lost. He said not to worry about it because it probably had nothing to do with where I should be now anyway. "You don't always have to start where you left off," he said. "Besides, everything's connected."

I told him I was having trouble accounting for the difference between the little god in my head and the one responsible for the stars.

"I'll tell you what I know about God," he said. "I'll tell you about him and me: distance...great distances. I'll tell you about great distances." He said, "I've got pictures I don't look at and books that I don't read...and friends...I've got friends. I don't like them any less, I just don't see them anymore." (Michael Wilson from I See That Hand.)

Dear friends;

There are times when I simply cannot muster up the "umpf" to be artistic. This time is struggling to be one of them. After months of saving, and enough trips through Atlanta rush-hour traffic to make me near-homocidal, Sod Pottage is finished. I have kept my word, albeit quite a bit delayed. AND, as you by now have noticed, those who were kind enough to pre-order it received a bonus disc, To the Roof of the Sky, the new independent release by the Vigilantes of Love (of "Doublecure", "Real Downtown", and "When I'm Broken" fame), for free! Though it's far from perfect, Sod Pottage reflects a moment from my life that I do indeed miss. When I put in on and sit between the speakers (it is a rewarding STEREO experience, if I may say so myself), I feel as though I'm back in Randy's bedroom in '93 when Steve, Randy and I would stay up all night playing and praying -- and there are other moments through-out this disc that place me in '96 at the Set-on-Edge-house, with Rob Suter bobbing his head in the doorway while we attempted one more run through of some new song that never saw the light of day on tape, slipping even deeper into obscurity than these songs have. (Hey -- for you "insiders", do any of THESE ring a bell?; Hey Friend, I'd Never Thought, Father of Creation, Hello Again, Project Song, How do You Do?, I See How You Are, My Sister Smiles, Poster-boy, She Disarms Me, Song, Emily, Pinning Me Down, Sitting in the Chair Across from Me, Red Light Green Light, In These Hands, Another Wedding, Sunday's Sidewalk over Eden, Once Again, Awake North Winds, Iberian Groove, Excuse Me Madame, Lame, Love Only, My Heart is Just One Part of Me, Empirical Ifs, Heaven's Love...I'll stop there...some of these were so "barely" songs that the other guys in the band probably don't remember most of them!) How many of you were around the first time Set on Edge played out as a full band, with Dave McCall on drums for the first time, and Josh Antonuccio on lead guitar? "Get Back"? You'd remember, if you were there. And at the original line-up's final show @ the Union Bar and Grill, when Lu opened the place just so we could play our gig, and Steve added an extra verse to "From Here to There" all about the band's time together. Maybe I'm running on too long about all of this, but this is what I hear when I hear the record -- it makes me remember, and remembering matters. This is something that I have been recently learning when struggling with temptation; remember what God has done in my life -- remember who I am in Christ -- remember the responsibilities that I have for my brothers and sisters and even those not yet in the family. The communion is remembering ("The wine, my lips have tasted...the cup, the bread, my own sour grapes..."). Do this in remembrance of me. I will remember.

For those who may have long wondered, "Sod Pottage" is an OLD english term having to do with the fixing of stew which Randy Kinsey pulled from the passage from Genesis concerning Esau's purchase of Jacob's birthright for a bowl of soup. The cover, for those who have seen it, is a photo of supposedly two brothers, divided, one looking into the darkness, one looking into the light. Turning the c.d. over, hidden behind the pain is the rest of the story -- the full story always being that God works through any situation bringing about his good will. As you may have guessed, a copy of this letter is being sent to every individual that signed up as being interested in ordering a copy of Sod Pottage, so if you still want it, here's how;

Send $10 (that includes the shipping) per c.d. to;

set on edge
c/o Shannon Lewis
397 S. Church St.
Athens, GA 30605

OR, talk to another former Set on Edge member. Note, since this update went out, you can now buy Sod Pottage ONLINE at Broken Records: http://www.gospelcom.net/brokenrecords/profsetonedge.htm

I hope and pray it proves to have been worth the wait. Now on to other things -- the future of the NEW Set on Edge seems quite uncertain, since, though God is continually leading amazing musicians to me, they seldom stay for long, getting jobs elsewhere and moving further away than is feesable. I have scheduled studio time in late October at a local nationally know studio, Full Moon, to begin recording rhythm tracks for a 3rd, and likely final (at least in the fore-see-able future) c.d. tentatively titled Earnestly I. So far I've some of the best, most creative, catchy, far-out, and just all-around unique material I've ever written ready to begin recording. I've rehearsed at least 6 of the most up-beat numbers as a core 3 piece involving drummer, Andy Womack (a drum instructor), and bassist, Bill Johnson (professional soundman, session player, studio bassist, and employee of Kenneth Copeland ministries), though many of those songs will also contain, among other instruments, slide guitar, mandolin, dobro, hammond b-3, cello, and a whole assortment of guitars (currently, Steve Rieske and myself included, there are 4 different guitarist playing on this record). At least 2 mellower songs will recorded with former V.o.L. drummer, Tom Crea, and current Filet of Soul bassist, and solo artist, Randy Chester. And there are still many that are either undecided, unfinished, or simply too mellow for percussion (at least 4 of the later). I think the big surprise for many will be the addition of Jazz and country influences to the already eclectic Set on Edge sound, if it could ever have been called that. Anyway, to keep from babbling for to long, I hope to have this one finished, God-willing of course, by Christmas of 1999 -- I'm not holding my breath, though. (holding one's breath for that long would most assuredly be fatal, you know.)

As usual, a Shannon letter would not be complete without a "you really need to check this stuff out" section -- so, for those that have heard me say this before, or for those that really don't give a hoot, here it is. C.D.'s you really should check out if you've not already;

To the Roof of the Sky - Vigilantes of Love,
Quiver and/or Hush - Monk (former guitarist of Over the Rhine),
Blue Pony - Julie Miller, Hell Among the Yearlings - Gillian Welsh,
Canticle of the Plains - the Kid Brothers of St. Frank (the Rich Mullins Project),
Low Estate - Sixteen Horsepower (though not for the faint of heart),
Musings of a Creekdipper - Victoria Williams,
and I've been riding this one for over 2 years now...it's BRILLIANT:
The Charity of Night - Bruce Cockburn.

Books you really need to check out;
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger - Ron Sider,
What on Earth are We Doing - John Fischer,
Caring for Creation - Calvin DeWitt,
The Pentateuch as Narrative - John Sailhamer,
Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey - Craig Blomberg,
Summer for the Gods - Ed Larson (former member of our church down here -- he just won a pulitzer for this),
Classical Devotionals and Seeking the Kingdom - Richard Foster .

Foster's writings have aided me in my devotional life more than any other writer, where Blomberg's book is a GREAT even handed look at the Gospels for those about to take a secular Bible class (though Blomberg's The Historical Reliability of the Gospels is more advised for those already struggling with those sorts of doubts), and Sailhamer is simply brilliant and looking at the Hebrew scripture in context. Oh...and just to drop everyone like a log at the end of my letter -- I'm considering the option of going to seminary in a few years; probably Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, but I'm not sure...not only am I not 100% whether I'm going or not, but also not 100% sure when, nor exactly where. Anyway...write me back with some Godly counsel, if you feel that God has given you any advise to pass on to me.

May God bless you and keep you,
In Christ,
amen, and Amen,

shannon lewis