Resilience

Midas

Grift

Dissonance

Something's Glowing in the Milky Way Galaxy

Anchored

Cathedrals

Dissent

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Love Came Down At Christmas

In The Bleak Midwinter

Angels From the Realms of Glory!

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!

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The Magnificat (A Christmas Call to Arms)

I.
Christmas feels different this year
It feels like everybody here
Is well aware we're in for a long, long winter
And I don't mean to go overboard
But this Christmas I can't ignore
I fear we're hurdling towards a long, long winter

And even all the colored lights
Don't seem to be burning as bright
They seem to shiver in fright of the cold, cold winter
And it's hard to feel much joy
Or be distracted by new toys
When we know outside its a hard, hard winter

So I think I'll skip the snowmen in the yard
And I think I'll pass on acting like life's a postcard

Christmas feels different this year
It feels like any Christmas cheer
Is forced and insincere in the long, long winter
And come July I won't pretend
That it's summertime again
When we know under Trump it will still be winter

So I think I'll skip the lighting of the tree
And instead revisit our misguided priorities...

II.
Because every year, a few weeks out
We take the time to read about
How Mary sang a song of praise
And on her knees, joyfully prayed
But we forget the rest of the song
It's more than three or four verses long
We're told before the virgin birth
Before we get to peace on Earth
The powerful get beaten down
The proud confounded and kicked around
The rich are sent away empty
And servants helped to find mercy
The lowly ones are lifted up
And those who starve will have enough
So we're holding this year's midnight mass
Behind the dumpsters and the trash
Where broken hearts and broken glass
Can catch the light that's come to pass
And it won't be a silent night
We won't be numbed by candlelight
We'll burn our churches down to ash
To provide warmth for those outcast
So say goodbye to your cherished stained glass
The last are first and the first are last
We're singing hymns and ringing bells
In padded rooms and prison cells
We're taking in the homeless teens
And their unwanted pregnancies
We're gathering in the projects
With shepherd boys on welfare checks
And foreigners are welcomed in
And introduced to our children
And we're all singing, "Solidarity!"
Because it turns out that's what Christmas means

And that's what we need
We need so desperately
And that's what it means when we sing...

III.
My soul magnifies the Lord, my soul
Gloria in excelsis Deo

(We can't control the wind and snow
But we can rage against the cold
We can ignite our souls and we can be shelter)

- December 2016

The Magnificat (A Christmas Call to Arms)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/03/29/us-methodist-leaders-lay-plans-resist-anti-gay-marriage-vote/?utm_term=.710547681ff6

(feat. David Lachance on lead guitar & background vocals)

Hey Hey Adam Hamilton!
I know you’ve got the best of intentions
I know your heart bleeds for the church
I know you’re trying to save the connexion
but open hearts and open minds
behind closed doors is part of the problem
bishops have never saved the church
revival always comes from the bottom
Hey Hey Adam Hamilton!
your books make clear you’ve studied the Bible
I know you’re trying to be like Christ
but maybe this time try to be a disciple

I read all about your new plan in The Post
to create a new church that puts America first
but America blackmailing everyone else
with the justification of justice and the weapons of wealth
doesn’t feel much like Heaven, in fact it sounds more like Hell
just a modern expression of a colonial stunt
where we strong-arm submission and declare that we’re one
where we ask for conversion at the barrel of a gun

You’re lucky to have a voice people respect
and your voice could be used to amplify the oppressed
'cause it’s not about us, it’s about Jesus first
and I think we’d do well to remember His words:
“Lay down your life, grab your cross, follow me”
we should be the ones following and let Jesus lead,
which is to say we should follow the least ones of these:
the abused, kicked out, and LGBT

Hey Hey Adam Hamilton!
you and I, we’re the definition
of arrogance and ignorance
of privilege - straight white male Christians
and you and I can’t save the world
thanks be to God, that's already happened
but you and I can make it worse
by barreling forth with self-righteous convictions
Hey Hey Adam Hamilton!
please cancel your gathering
and offer up your pedestal instead

(April 2019)

The Soundtrack to the Schism

Hey Adam!

4. Father Abraham

Abraham has many sons and daughters
We can’t stand to let them let us falter
Bind their hands and drag them to the altar
Faithful men
like Abraham

God, I have so much respect for the men
who taught me to reject any sense
of right and wrong I have to defend
a pissed off god above who demands
I abuse the ones I love just to prove
that I am man enough and to prove
that I am man enough I’ll condemn
anyone just to be like Abraham

Don’t you know it’s a sinful choice to wear that skirt?
Don’t you know that theres sex crazed men at your church
and thats on you?
Don’t know you know that you look too good to expect us to
understand a single word you preach
as anything more than cute?

And if you question my approach to parenting
then you clearly don’t know what obedience means
And if you question what good could violence bring
then you’re actually questioning everything
And I very much like living my life in black and white
and I find great peace of mind in knowing that
this world is built on truth
that’s rigid, cold, and cruel
and I know that the truth hurts
but it’s all for your own good

Father Abraham

2. A Change In Presentation

You’re broadcasting a message now so old it feels like new
You’ve got something intangible that draws people to you
a fresh interpretation that’s addressing all the flaws
resolving and explaining them in ways that help the cause but

“Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does”
isn’t about deniability and cover ups
and “If your right hand sins then you should cut it off”
isn’t for limiting exposure and not getting caught

A change in presentation’s all your reformation is
The same old sour wine that you’re just pouring in new skins

The beauty of your movement is it’s clear cut hard line stance
that’s simple for the entire world to grasp and understand
But if we dig a little deeper I’ve got a feeling that we’ll find
some inconsistencies in how your dogma gets applied like

“Blessed are the peacemakers, pray for and love your foes”
doesn’t mean advocate for maintaining the status quo
“Forgive again and again, seventy times seven”
doesn’t mean sit down shrug and give up on sanctification

There’s hell to pay for women who dare cross the party line
and grace for every man who gets caught cheating on his wife

We’re supposed to be the wrenches
that get thrown in the machine
You’re content to be the bleach
that keeps the systems squeaky clean

And lest you think I’m talking to just one specific sect
Remember as you’re listening that we haven’t split quite yet

A Change In Presentation

1. Jonah

Do you hear that whistle blowin’?
I hear it calling out my name
Do your lungs not taste the ocean?
I feel it flowing in my veins
It’s always the same stimuli that spark these dreams
and draw me to the sea

So I think I’ll set sail and leave this town
I’m getting out
but I worry a whale might grab me now
and drag me down
as it’s saving my life
‘cause I feel like Jonah

Do your friends not feel the currents?
I’ve seen them escaping to the shores
Have they found freedom from their burdens?
I’m not even sure that’s what they’re looking for
Are we running from or sailing towards Nineveh?
Are we already there?

Wonder if I should cast my anchors out
and drop them down
Send a signal to tempests and storm clouds
I won’t be drowned
After I capsize
because I feel like Jonah

Jonah

We pledge allegiance to our only king
The source and savior of our liberty
Some will salute a waving piece of cloth
We use them to dry the blistered feet we wash
We kneel in prayer while others stand and sing
We pledge allegiance to our only king

We pledge allegiance to the Prince of Peace
The sole provider of security
Some gather guns and fortify with arms
We beat them to plows to tend to fields and farms
We love and pray for every enemy
We pledge allegiance to the Prince of Peace

We pledge allegiance to the Son of Man
A homeless refugee who held no land
Some store up wealth on stolen property
We cry that it’s long past time for Jubilee
We hold things in common and give all we can
We pledge allegiance to the Son of Man

We pledge allegiance to Christ crucified
A stumbling block for both the left and right
Some equate power and status with success
We rejoice and sorrow in shared lowliness
We cling to crosses and in death find life
We pledge allegiance to Christ crucified

Pledge Of Allegiance

We gather here with many skills and trades perfected and honed
Each longing to contribute to the state of this our shared home
Each hoping to collectively responsibly bring uplift
to the world your worker hands have made and every living thing living in it

We bear the image of our maker
We will share in the fruits born of our labor

We won’t bow to efficiency, profits or productivity
These idols have no place in our endeavors
We will not worship corporate schemes or human ingenuity
And nothing that we build will last forever

The wheels of progress will not crush us underneath their tire treads
If by their very nature they respect our health and wishes
A world where every citizen is valued, heard, and well fed
Has no room for wages meager or any wealthy men living in it

Not callings or countries
Not buildings or bodies

You declare our sacred worth is separate from our hours worked
Is separate from the sum of our endeavors
And we will take this sabbath day to rest and with each other pray
Your Kingdom here on Earth will last forever

The Workers' Sabbath Hymn

All of the mainlines are in decline
our institution’s instincts say
we’ve gotta save the plans we’ve laid
before they fade away
and take with them our faith

but faith so quick to fail seems awfully frail
seems like it’s built on sand so let’s
forge ahead and shed the weight instead
‘cause even Jesus said:
“Let the dead bury the dead”

where, oh death, is now your victory?
where is your sting?
your boasting graves are met with apathy
we don’t fear a thing

you are dead and gone
you are dead and gone
hope still marches on
we saw you perish on His cross

the truth is we all must return to dust
and steeples rust and just decay
pass away collapse beneath
their superficial weight
we’re dancing on our graves

for people who believe in Resurrection
we’re awfully afraid of death

we don’t fear death!

Original Synth

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