Free Stuff
My sheet music and other free resources are available here. Just follow this link, and enter your Merry Mystic password when requested.
These things are under a Creative Commons license that allows you to download them and copy them freely—for any non-commercial use.
Enjoy!
Store
I have books, CDs, and a video series for sale from my store page. (I wish I could just give everything away, but one must eat!)
I’m especially excited about my new book, now available: My Burden Is Light: A Pastor’s Plea for Rationality, Honesty, and Humility.
About
Merry, Mystical Missives
Here you’ll find everything I’ve sent out to the mailing list for The Merry Mystic.
Testosterone
Greetings, Merry Mystics!
Here’s a recruiting song for Pete Hegseth’s new “high-T’ Department of War. This is a parody of “The Longest Day” by Paul Anka, which was the theme song of the 1962 movie of the same name.
In the video, I’ve used clips from some other movies—some well-known, and some obscure. Does anyone know the movie from which the final clip was taken? Hint: it’s from 1957.
The Ruler of the USA
Greetings, Merry Mystics!
Here’s an American success story—with apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan.
Bright blessings,
Adam
Cracked Song
Greetings, Merry Mystics!
My seminary was the Earlham School of Religion. I’m so glad I found it—or it found me. I had a great experience there, and I would recommend ESR to anyone who’s thinking of seminary studies.
But what draws students to seminary studies in the first place? My classmates and I spent quite a lot of time trying to explain, to ourselves and to each other, why we were there. I’m not sure any of us came up with an entirely satisfactory answer at the time, but here’s one that’s true for me now.
Bright blessings,
Adam
P.S. I wrote this back in 2017; this is a slightly updated version.
TDS Talking
Greetings, Merry Mystics!
Another little political song today. There’s a lot of spoken word in this one. (I’ve been thinking about Gil Scott-Heron’s classic from 1971, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”)
When I first heard people accusing their political opponents of TDS, it seemed to be just a humorous put-down. More recently, though, it seems to be a serious attempt to classify political dissent as mental illness. Last month, in a Justice Department court filing, they accused the National Trust for Historic Preservation of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly referred to as TDS.” And when I posted this video on Facebook, more than one comment insisted that TDS is a real mental illness, and I shouldn’t be making fun of it!
These are the (mostly video) messages sent out to The Merry Mystic mailing list.
Sermons and Such
Every week, I preach in the Open Prairie United Church of Christ in Princeton, Illinois. I’m not sending most of these out to The Merry Mystic mailing list; but on the outside chance you’d like to see a sermon, here they are.
The Two Mistakes (Again!)
The story of Jesus walking on the water always brings me back to this: the two mistakes we often make when reading miracle stories in the Bible.
How Many Gods Are There?
Our faith ancestors were not as monotheistic as we might think.
Stairway to Heaven
As Jacob discovered, heaven and earth are connected. But not just in one place!
Falling Off the Camel
When Rebekah first saw her future husband Isaac, she fell off her camel. Something similar once happened to me.
Living in Sin
When the Apostle Paul talks about sin, there’s often something about sex lurking in the background.
Fire in our Bones
When someone you love is unjustly accused, doesn’t it make your blood boil?
Laughter in the Bible
In the Bible, laughter is no laughing matter—except in this unique story from Genesis.
Tolstoy Sunday
This Sunday, instead of a sermon, we had some writings and a short story (“The Three Hermits”) by a most unusual Christian: Leo Tolstoy.
On Magnifica Humanitas
Reflections on the recent papal encyclical concerning artificial intelligence.
Cracked Sermon
My sermon for Pentecost: a world of the cracked will be saner by far.