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.
The ICE Recruiting Song
Greetings, Merry Mystics!
Gee, but I always feel reluctant to share edgy songs like this one. What if people take offense? Or what if people embrace it, with realizing that it’s satire? Or what if people are just turned off by politics of any stripe?
But, oh well. As Popeye said: I yam what I yam.
Given that, here’s The ICE Recruiting Song. The song is partly based on a popular song from the Civil War era: “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Prisoner’s Hope)” by George F. Root.
Kick Me to the Curb
Mellow greetings, Merry Mystics!
I was thinking about Pete Seeger this week—one of my heroes—so I wrote this little protest song.
Anyone want to send me another verse?
Not So Wise Are We (Hymn)
I wrote a new hymn to go with the Epiphany story in the Gospel of Matthew. It’s about those mysterious visitors from the East, who behave so foolishly in the story. They go to the wrong place (Jerusalem, not Bethlehem); they visit the wrong king (Herod, not Jesus); they ask him a really foolish question (“So, what do you know about the new king—the one who’s going to replace you?”); and when they finally get to the right place, they bring three really inappropriate gifts! How’d they ever get to be called “Wise Men” anyway?
Sheet music for “Not So Wise Are We” is freely available, as always, and you can listen to the hymn here. (I also gave a whole sermon on the subject—in case anyone wants to hear a sermon!)
The Dark Night (I Miss You, My Friend)
Hello, Merry Mystics! Here’s a song that’s more mystical than merry.
This Sunday, I’m teaching my congregation about St. John of the Cross. We’ll read his poem “The Dark Night,” and I’ll summarize some of his extensive commentary about the “dark night of the soul.” I think most of us have had times when God feels distant—I know I have. (So did Jesus, according to the crucifixion stories in Mark and Matthew. And so did the author(s) of a number of the Psalms, like 10, 22, and 34.)
Anyway, I wrote this song to go with that teaching.
Well, actually, it sounds sort of rational when I put it that way, but the truth is that the idea for the song came to me first, out of the blue, while I was looking out the window on a flight at the start of a week’s vacation. When I got home again, I planned the sermon to go with the song.
The song is called “The Dark Night (I Miss You, My Friend)”. I’ll put sheet music for it in our Free Stuff area.
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.
Viriditas
Opus verbi viriditas: the work of the Word of God, at Easter and always, is to be greening things up.
Jesus’ Non-Violent Resistance
Jesus taught and demonstrated humility … but Palm Sunday was something else.
Death Is Not the End
Here’s something the New Testament author all agreed on: death is not the end.
When No One Gets You
The man born blind, whom Jesus heals, gets a long and loving portrayal in the Gospel of John. Ever wonder why?
I Am the One Speaking to You
Jesus didn’t care about the way people were labeled; he cared about the people behind the labels. So should we.
God So Loved the World
Many of us know the words of John 3:16. The gospel invites us to search them for deep meaning.
A Song in the Wilderness
Jesus didn’t serve himself. The church often did—and does.
Getting Away from It All
One simple lesson from the legend of the Transfiguration is the importance of getting away, as Jesus so often did.
Blessed Examples
The Beatitudes can speak more clearly if we don’t try to think of them as a list of one-size-fits-all obligations.
When Prophets Agree
Isaiah, Amos, and Micah agree on this—and so did Jesus.