Amy Grant is opening up about the deeply personal story behind one of the most moving songs on her new album-and it all began with a shocking comment from a nun.
In the final episode of her The Me That Remains podcast series with Khalil Ekulona, the Christian music icon revealed that her song "The Saint" was inspired by two sisters whose lives took dramatically different paths. One became a nun devoted to serving Christ, while the other spent years battling addiction.
What happened next left Grant speechless.
After another relapse, the nun looked at Grant and quietly said, "Sometimes I wonder if the addicts aren't the real saints." The unexpected remark stayed with the singer, eventually becoming the emotional heartbeat of the song.
Determined to help the sisters truly see one another, Grant invited them both to her Nashville home after Christmas for an intimate conversation. They spent hours sharing their stories-many for the very first time.
Watching them open their hearts, Grant said, changed her forever.
"The first action of love is to see, not to fix-to see," she reflected. The following morning, unable to shake what she had witnessed, Grant sat alone in the same room for more than four hours, writing what would become "The Saint."
When the song was finally completed, Grant invited both sisters back to hear it.
As the music played, the three of them simply held one another and cried.
The younger sister later told Grant she could actually "feel the healing" through the experience-a moment the six-time Grammy winner says she'll never forget.
Grant also pulled back the curtain on the striking artwork for The Me That Remains, revealing that acclaimed mixed-media artist Wayne Brezinka didn't simply paint a portrait-he built a visual autobiography.
The artwork contains pieces of Grant's life hidden beneath the surface, including her childhood Bible, treasured seashells, cooking utensils, family photographs, heirlooms, and even newspaper clippings about her great-grandparents. Each item, she admitted, required an act of surrender as she entrusted deeply personal keepsakes to the artist.
One of the most touching discoveries came from Grant's childhood Bible.
Inside, she had scribbled the imaginary stage name she dreamed of having as a little girl: "Amy K. Lee Goldfish." Decades later, Brezinka incorporated that playful handwriting into the album artwork, reminding Grant of the little girl who longed to become someone special.
Looking back, the singer said the entire creative journey became an exercise in embracing every chapter of her story-including the younger version of herself.
"Maybe the whole process is about being kind to yourself," Grant reflected. "Welcoming yourself."
With The Me That Remains, Grant isn't simply releasing another album. She's inviting listeners into stories of brokenness, grace, redemption, and the healing that can begin when people choose to truly see one another.
