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Musical Collective Gungor Explores Existentialism and Faith

Husband and wife duo, Gungor, believe that they are doing God’s work. Whether or not they speak of Him directly, doesn’t seem to faze them. Both Lisa and Michael Gungor are focused on the message that God is giving them in their day-to-day lives.

“Everything is God. God helps you create,” explained Lisa. “It’s been a point of tension in our music. We’re always asked: ‘are you speaking about God enough?’ And yes we are, we don’t literally speak of God in our songs, but we speak of love, life, and wrestling with everything. Sacred or not sacred, we don’t really buy into it. We don’t think this belongs to God and that doesn’t.”

“We started the albums through one of the most difficult times in our life…”

Their latest work, One Wild Life, was released in three parts: Soul, Spirit and Body. The three parts symbolize the innate connection of the soul, spirit and body. The three albums play into each other, connected and as stand-alone albums.

The title takes its name from the poet Mary Oliver, when she writes “What would you do with your one wild life?” The album is a representation of the human condition. It relays a message of accepting the present, no matter what that present is. More importantly, Gungor believes that no matter what stage of faith they’re in, whether it is belief or doubt, it is important to embrace and find joy in the present. This present state is, for them, the meaning of the Kingdom of God.

The inspiration for the One Wild Life trilogy came after a tumultuous year for the pair.

“We started the albums through one of the most difficult times in our life,” said Lisa. “2014 crashed and burned for us. Our baby Lucie was born with Down Syndrome and the chaos of having a child in surgery was just crushing. Then we didn’t have a place to live for a while, and shortly after a close friend died. We felt like we were drowning and suffocating. We came to this realization, that tragedy will come your way and you have to figure out what you do with that. This realization seemed to unlatch this different side of life. It made me realize I have a choice in this. This album was us working through this pain, and it really taught us a lot. We have a choice here and are we going to learn from it.”

Photo by Logan Cole
Photo by Logan Cole // The Curated Life

“God’s message is in everything. You can’t really get away from it. It is all God’s message.”

This realization came with the help of their strong faith felt throughout their life. Michael’s father Ed Gungor is a pastor and author, while Lisa grew up in the church environment from a young age. They met as freshmen at Oral Roberts University, and soon began creating music together. They eventually married, and in 2007 they started Bloom, a non-denominational church community. This community, based in Colorado, is a representation of how Lisa and Michael live their lives: through Christ, love and music.

“I grew up with the message of God being a small message. I think that is a pretty small slice of the universe,” explained Michael. “The whole universe is God’s message. How can you dismiss things? The entire universe is God’s handiwork and expression. God’s message is in everything. You can’t really get away from it. It is all God’s message.”

Lisa and Michael Gungor definitely know what message they want to send to people through their work. They believe that everyone is connected, through God, and music.

“Music is fundamental to existence. I think all humans recognize something in music,” said Michael “Every single culture has music. There is something about how the human brain is wired. It is related to how the universe is. Music can reach places in my psyche that others can’t or others have the capacity to do. It enriches a meaning that in some ways spoken word cannot. Music has a power to it.”

But what about the future for Gungor? Lisa wants to focus on their two daughters, Lucie and Amelie, while working on creative projects like books and music. Michael sees his future remaining in music, spending more time in the studio producing and writing.

Gungor’s music, like their faith, is ever evolving and only God knows what the future holds for the musical duo.

Jennifer D'Agostino

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