Wonder Drug #1: Releasing Anxiety
A teaching of Jesus about releasing anxiety, just in time for Election Day here in the USA.
God Send You Liberation
Hello, my merry and mystical friends! Here’s a new song with a very old melody: “God Send You Liberation”. As always, sheet music is available in our Free Stuff area.
These are the lyrics:
God Send You Liberation
Awake, awake ye drowsy souls, and hear what I shall say.
Remember how your freedom felt before it fled away?
Unbound, unburdened, unafraid, before you were in chains?
So God send you liberation, never fear, never fear.
So God send you liberation, never fear.
Imprisoned now, ye drowsy souls, perceive your shrunken state.
Forgetting your eternal life, returning hate for hate,
Tied up in wealth, in fear of death, and many bonds beside.
So God send you liberation, never fear, never fear.
So God send you liberation, never fear.
Have you forgot, ye drowsy souls, your high and holy birth?
You are the great Creator’s child who made the heaven and earth,
And Jesus is your brother dear, who frees the sin-sick soul.
So God send you liberation, never fear, never fear.
So God send you liberation, never fear.
Fear not, fear not, ye drowsy souls, this bondage shall not stand.
No snare on earth has yet withstood God’s liberating hand.
Cast off your chains, shake off your drowsiness, and set all captives free.
So God send you liberation, never fear, never fear.
So God send you liberation, never fear.
The Humble Stance
What person (or computer program, or mathematical system) can know their own errors?
Energized by Fear
Would you be afraid to wrestle with God? I know I would—but I hope I’d find the nerve to persevere, as Jacob did. (This sermon includes a traditional spiritual, “Changed My Name,” which begins at about 12:30.)
The Elisha Story Cycle
The skeptic in me cautions you that the Second Book of Kings is not, on the whole, a good place to learn about God. The mystic in me rejoices at the same time to point out that God’s voice can reach us from the most unexpected places—even from texts like this one—if are hearts are open. Music soothes the angry prophet!
The Story Breaks
Sometimes, the stories we tell about God are too weak to hold up when life gets hard. When those stories break, it can be traumatic.
This sermon include a song, “I Don’t Believe in You Anymore,” beginning at about 9:55.
Amos Aimed at Us
What if we brought the prophet Amos, that simple fig farmer, forward in time to show him our world? Where would he aim his prophetic arrows?
The Crux of the Matter
In this reflection, I read from The Dream of the Rood, one of the oldest works of Old English literature. If the cross of Christ could speak, what would it say?
Antifamily Jesus
I don’t always understand the sayings ascribed to Jesus, and to the extent that I do understand them, I don’t always agree with them. But one thing is clear: Jesus was not really a “family values” guy.