I recently was asked about the origin of this song and The Song Writing Process.

Where Once I Feared to Walk is the last song on the Surrendered & Untamed album and was actually written with that in mind – which is a miracle if you knew my writing process. Another small miracle was how easy this song came. Most times I fight hard for the lyrics, often witting a small novel before I’ve found the right words. But this one just seemed to flow…

We lived in a little house halfway up the 4th fairway on a country golf course 20 miles north of Jackson MS. One night Carver – a good friend – came over to hang out. One of the things I loved to do when it wasn’t 95 degrees with 95% humidity, was to walk the golf course. The best time was dusk.

Carver and I headed out that night, both of us eager to talk and also smoke the Cohibas my brother had smuggled in through Hatti. Though I’m not a huge cigar guy, there is something special about smoking a Cuban with a friend. That night’s walk was like so many other walks with friends, we laughed, talked and dreamed of a future even grander than the present. We reminisced about God’s goodness. Especially in light of past disappointments and failures.

Days later, as I scrambled for pen and paper, I recalled that night. But this time, it wasn’t Carver but Jesus who walked beside me, dreaming of a future.

The lyrics for the first half of the song came from the memory of the walk.

The second half and the last line, “Here’s to bigger dreams,” came from a conversation with my dad where he quoted C.S. Lewis, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

I wrote half of the S&U album on piano. This was one of those songs. In earlier albums, I had always written from an acoustic guitar. I wanted to try something different with the S&U album. I wanted the melody to drive the songs instead of rhythm. I can’t really play the piano – at least not with both hands at the same time – but I feel like it worked.

And that’s how the song came about, Jesus and I walking in the night dreaming about a future even better than the present and reminiscing about His past goodness. And though I was smoking a Cohiba, In my mind’s eye, Jesus seemed more like a pipe kinda guy. It might have had something to do with CS Lewis.

Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

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