This morning I'd like to do something a little unorthodox and recommend an album (sorry CD....sorry again, a download) to you. So far it has sold more than 4 million copies. It won "Album of the Year" awards from the Country Music Association and the International Bluegrass Music Association, and was nominated for five Grammys. Rolling Stone called it one of the best albums of 2001, and Entertainment Weekly named the musicians one of their "Entertainers of the Year."

The remarkable thing is it sounds nothing like Ariana Grande or Disturbed and yet it was one of the best selling albums of that year. So who is it? It's the Soggy Bottom Boys! You heard me. The Whites and a few other groups, along with the Soggy Bottom Boys (a fictional group) perform on the album. The Whites have been performing gospel, country swing, and bluegrass music for more than 30 years but the success of this album caught them by surprise. The direct reason for the albums success is that it is a Sound Track to the movie "O' Brother, Where Art Thou?"

The second reason for the album's success is expressed well by Sharon White, from the family singing group. She said, "This music touches people on a level that we're not accustomed to being touched on in our culture today." "Modern entertainment is all about arousal and sensuality. But this music is honest and pure, and it moves you like a mountain stream moves you. It's something so deep it almost defies explanation."

Listen to this. I like what she says next. She describes herself as "loosely Southern Baptist," and she believes there are spiritual forces at play: "God's in this," she says. "There's no doubt about it. We look at everything we do that way, and I hope the people at the concerts see this, because I, we, are very unattractive, weak vessels."

I know what she means. Every now and then you hear something, whether it is music or poetry, or some bit of wisdom that touches you on a level we're not accustomed to being touched. As soon as you hear it, you know that it is addressing eternal truths. I like to think that those who sat around Jesus on that day in Galilee when he first preached, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," looked at each other with that look that says, "That's right!" "I understand what he is saying." God's in this."

The Beatitudes are words so deep they almost defy explanation.