Free Stuff
My sheet music and other free resources are available here. Just follow this link.
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.
Don’t Let It Go to Your Heart
Mellow greetings, Merry Mystics! My songwriting challenge continues with week two of my sermon series on the practical teachings of Jesus. This week’s message was about Jesus’ teachings on money, with several relevant scripture readings (Luke 19:1-10, Mark 10:17-25, John 12:3-5,7-8, and Matthew 6:24).The song I wrote to go with it is called “Don’t Let It Go to Your Heart”.
Depending on your definition of a hymn, maybe this isn’t one; it’s more like a ballad, albeit Christian and biblical. But we sang it together in church, and the congregation seemed to enjoy it.
In the video performance of this song, my wife Kelly Autrey-Webber leads a congregation in singing; Charlie Gebeck is the accompanist. As always, the sheet music is available in our Free Stuff area.
Let Worries Go
Hello, Merry Mystics!
I’ve started a sermon series in my church: between now and Christmas, I’m preaching exclusively about the practical teachings of Jesus. The first one, just in time for the worrisome election here in the USA, is about not worrying.
I wrote a new hymn to go with my sermon. Here’s the text:
Let Worries Go
Let worries go, my anxious heart!
Let peace remain and fear depart.
Within the present moment dwell,
Where God is near and all is well.
Release the futile, foolish fears
That blind the eyes and stop the ears.
The future-focused mind will miss
God’s present voice and present bliss.
When joys abound and blessings flow,
In gratitude to God I’ll go.
When troubles come and times are tough,
I’ll go with God and that’s enough.
Oh, Jesus taught us not to care
What we would eat or drink or wear,
In each adventure to depend
On God to be our faithful friend.
To worry is to spoil and waste
A treasure that can’t be replaced,
A thing of high and holy worth:
A precious hour of life on earth.
In hymnody this form is called long meter: four-line stanzas of eight syllables each. In my hymnal, there are at least forty melodies that would fit, including, of course, the Old Hundredth (“Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”). But I thought the subject needed a more fun and unusual tune, so I used an old Scottish border ballad, “The Wraggle Taggle Gypsy.” In the video performance of this hymn, my friend Ron McCutchan leads a congregation in singing; Charlie Gebeck is the accompanist. As always, the sheet music is available in our Free Stuff area.
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.
what if you were humble
Mellow greetings, Merry Mystics! I decided not to preach a sermon in my church this week, and sang this little song instead. There is, of course, something shaky going on when I, Renshi the Reverend Doctor Adam Brooks Webber, proudly present a new song, written by me, about … humility. But I guess we’re all on the same shaky ground, every time we open our mouths. So if you will indulge me, here it is.
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.
Ride On
Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem was part of his work of standing against the rule of Rome and Rome’s collaborators—and standing instead for the divine rule of God.
Mindful Within and Without
The prophet Jeremiah longed for a day when we all could find God already written on our hearts. Mary Oliver would add this: that we can also find God already written in the natural world—the signature of the Creator in all creation.
Reading Scripture, Reading Poetry
If only we could read scripture the way we read poetry!
Transactions in the Temple
God is not to be bought or sold. God is not transactional.
To Let It Go
Jesus loved his life—and when it was time to let it go, he let it go.
Time for a Change
Sometimes change starts with remorse; sometimes, it’s just time for a change.
Transfiguration Sunday
When I was a boy, I hated school … and Transfiguration Sunday.
Candles in God’s Hands
Something we can learn from the legends of Saint Brigid.
The Fear of God
Our faith ancestors often said that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
Apologetics and Action
Proof (like in mathematics) and persuasion (like in Christian apologetics) are two very different things—and neither one is particularly important to the way of Jesus.