EVIL

Snippet

“The Only good thing about evil,” goes the Buddhist saying, “is it can be purified.”  In Buddhism, forgiveness does not mean absolution, but an opportunity for the inner transformation of both victim and perpetrator. “ Matthieu Ricard The Sunflower on the possibilities and limits of forgiveness Simon Wiesentrhal pg 235

Scripture

The heart is the most deceitful thing there is and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is! Only the Lord knows! He searches all hearts and examines deepest motives so he can give to each person his right reward, according to his deeds—how he has lived. Jeremiah 17:9,10 TLB

Song

Einstein on the Beach Counting Crows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsW1rdT-K2w

Albert's always sincere, he's a sensitive type

His intentions are clear, he wanna be well-liked

If everything is nothing, then are we anything?

Is it better to be better than to be anything?

And Albert's vision is blooming uncontrolled

All his wings are slowly sinking

The world begins to disappear

The worst things come from inside here

All the king's men reappear

For an eggman, on and off the wall

Who'll never be together again

Einstein's down on the beach staring into the sand

Cause everything he believes in is shattered

What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway-ay

We all get burned as:

One more sun comes sliding down the sky

One more shadow leans against the wall

The world begins to disappear

The worst things come from inside here

And all the king's men reappear

For an eggman, on and off the wall

Who'll never be together again

Albert's waiting in the sun

On a field American

For the cause of some inflated form of hit and run

One more sun comes sliding down the sky

One more shadow leans against the wall

The world begins to disappear

The worst things come from inside here

And all the king's men reappear

For an eggman, fallin' off the wall

Will never be together again

Albert's fallen on the sun

Cracked his head wide open

The world begins to disappear

The worst things come from inside here

And all the king's men reappear

For an eggman, falling, falling

The world begins to disappear

The worst things come from inside here

And all the king's men reappear

For an eggman, fallin' off the wall

Will never be together again

No never be together again

No no never never never again, uh huh

What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway

Sentence Prayer

Lord, you have brought us in safety to this new day.  Preserve us now by your mighty power that we might not fall into sin nor be overcome by adversity, and in all that we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

(Common Prayer A liturgy for ordinary Radicals pg 482

MIRROR MIRROR

Snippet

Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be accepted.  Belonging on the other hand, doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.  Brene Brown Gifts of Imperfection preface Hazelden 2010 PG 25

Scripture

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. 1 Corinthians 15:10

Song

Mirror Mirror By Barlow Girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCqBMcVrTN4

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Have I got it?

'Cause Mirror you've always told me who I am

I'm finding it's not easy to be perfect

So sorry you won't define me

Sorry you don't own me

Who are you to tell me

That I'm less than what I should be?

Who are you? Who are you?

I don't need to listen

To the list of things I should do

I won't try, I won't try

Mirror I am seeing a new reflection

I'm looking into the eyes

of He who made me

And to Him I have beauty beyond compare

I know He defines me (Yeah)

Who are you tell me

that I'm less than what I should be

Who are you?

Who are you? (Yeah)

I don't need to listen

To the list of things I should do

I won't try, no, I won't try

You don't define me (You don't define me) [x4]

Who are you to tell me

That I'm less than what I should be

Who are you?

Who are you?

Yeah!

I don't need to listen

To the list of things I should do

I won't try, no, I won't try

Yeah

Who are you to tell me

That I'm less than what I should be

Who are you?

Who are you?

Yeah

I don't need to listen

To the list of things I should do

I won't try, no, I won't try

Sentence Prayer

O Lord Jesus, I come to you feeling useless and hopeless. What I am doing to my body by 

not eating as I should is sinful and even deadly. Still, I struggle to stop my destructive behavior.  Lord, Christ, you know the depths of our temptations, and you have resisted the worst kind. Be with me now and give me the power of your Spirit to overcome. I place myself into your hands for forgiveness and strength. Amen.

(Eating Disorder Prayer http://www.stpaulwels.org/Eating%20Disorder%20Prayer.pdf)

HUNTING

Snippet

“For us hunting wasn’t a sport. It was a way to be intimate with nature, that intimacy providing us with wild unprocessed food free from pesticides and hormones and with the bonus of having been produced without the addition of great quantities of fossil fuel. In addition, hunting provided us with an ever scarcer relationship in a world of cities, factory farms, and agribusiness, direct responsibility for taking the lives that sustained us. Lives that even vegans indirectly take as the growing and harvesting of organic produce kills deer, birds, snakes, rodents, and insects. We lived close to the animals we ate. We knew their habits and that knowledge deepened our thanks to them and the land that made them.” ― Ted Kerasote, Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog

Scripture

Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die. Genesis 27:2-4

Song

Buck Fever Tony Young

http://www.reverbnation.com/tonyyoungband

Been fishin’ for months, and out on the lake

But kids are back in school, ain’t much longer to wait

I done put my ol’ bass boat up, for the year

Got the Packers playin’ on my TV

That means it won’t be long now till I’m up in a tree

I’m gonna try an lay the smack down, on that deer

Cause it’s been a long hot summer, I’m ready for fall

To get in the woods and give it my all

Somebody call a doctor, I got Buck Fever

Time to break out the bow, get ready my gun

Me and the boys are gonna have some fun

Hey honey tell the boss man, I got Buck Fever

I got it oh so bad . . . Buck Fever

Well there ain’t nothin’ like, being out in the woods

Lookin’ over a green field, sho is good

And justa hopin’ and prayin’ that he will, pass my way

But if he ever does, if I know me

He’ll have me shakin’ so bad, like a leaf on a tree

I’m gonna do everything I can, to wreck his day

Well you know you got it bad, when you can’t catch your breath

And your heart’s beatin’ plum straight outta your chest

It’s the best dang high that I’ve ever felt

Sentence Prayer

I have killed the deer.

I have crushed the grasshopper.

And the plants he feeds upon.

I have taken fish from the water.

And birds from the sky.

In my life I have needed death

So that my life can be.

When I die I must give life

To what has nourished me.

The earth receives my body

And gives it to the plants

And to the caterpillars

To the birds

And to the coyotes

Each in its own turn so that

The circle of life is never broken.

This Prayer was taken from- See more at: http://www.blackhawkproductions.com/poetrynative.htm#sthash.Km8ct4Kx.dpuf

COAT OF MANY COLORS

Snippet

The greatest wealth is to live content with little.                Plato 

Scripture

Jacob’s son Joseph was now seventeen years old. His job, along with his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, was to shepherd his father’s flocks. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things they were doing. 3 Now as it happened, Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, because Joseph was born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob gave him a special gift—a brightly colored coat.[a] 4 His brothers of course noticed their father’s partiality, and consequently hated Joseph; they couldn’t say a kind word to him. 5 One night Joseph had a dream and promptly reported the details to his brothers, causing even deeper hatred. Genesis 37:2-5 LB

Song

Coat Of Many Colors  by Dolly Parton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zJzr-kWsI

Back through the years

I go wonderin' once again

Back to the seasons of my youth

I recall a box of rags that someone gave us

And how my momma put the rags to use

There were rags of many colors

Every piece was small

And I didn't have a coat

And it was way down in the fog

Momma sewed the rags together

Sewin' every piece with love

She made my coat of many colors

That I was so proud of

As she sewed, she told a story

From the bible, she had read

About a coat of many colors

Joseph wore and then she said

Perhaps this coat will bring you

Good luck and happiness

And I just couldn't wait to wear it

And momma blessed it with a kiss

My coat of many colors

That my momma made for me

Made only from rags

But I wore it so proudly

Although we had no money

I was rich as I could be

In my coat of many colors

My momma made for me

So with patches on my britches

Holes in both my shoes

In my coat of many colors

I hurried off to school

Just to find the others laughing

And making fun of me

In my coat of many colors

My momma made for me

And oh I couldn't understand it

For I felt I was rich

And I told them of the love

My momma sewed in every stitch

And I told 'em all the story

Momma told me while she sewed

And how my coat of many colors

Was worth more than all their clothes

But they didn't understand it

And I tried to make them see

That one is only poor

Only if they choose to be

Now I know we had no money

But I was rich as I could be

In my coat of many colors

My momma made for me

Made just for me

Sentence Prayer

Purify, our hearts, O Lord, to long for the one true thing and be distracted by nothing. Amen

Common Prayer for Ordinary Radicals  Pg 481

HATE FACTORIES

Snippet

God is the shaper of your heart. God does not display his work in abstract terms. He prefers the concrete, and this means that at the end of your life one of three things will happen to your heart: it will grow hard, it will be broken, or it will be tender. Nobody escapes.  Ravi Zacharias

Scripture

But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. 9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.[a] 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism. Romans 2:5-11 NLT

Song

Jesus Christ-Brand New

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjPyvoLXPs4

Jesus Christ, that's a pretty face

The kind you'd find on someone I could save

If they don't put me away

Well, it'll be a miracle

Do you believe you're missin' out

That everything good is happening somewhere else?

But with nobody in your bed

The night's hard to get through

And I will die all alone

And when I arrive I won't know anyone

Well, Jesus Christ, I'm alone again

So what did you do those three days you were dead?

'cause this problem's gonna last more than the weekend.

Well, Jesus Christ, I'm not scared to die,

I'm a little bit scared of what comes after

Do I get the gold chariot?

Do I float through the ceiling?

Do I divide and fall apart?

'cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark

And the ship went down in sight of land

And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands

I know you're coming in the night like a thief

But I've had some time alone to hone my lying technique

I know you think that I'm someone you can trust

But I'm scared I'll get scared and I swear I'll try to nail you back up (everyone now)

So do you think that we could work out someday

So I'll know it's you and that it's over so I won't even try

I know you're coming for the people like me

But we all got wood and nails

And we turn out hate in factories

We all got wood and nails

And we turn out hate in factories

We all got wood and nails

And we sleep inside of this machine

Sentence Prayer

Put your hand,

Thomas

On the crawling head

Of a child

Imprisoned

In a cot

In Romania

Place your finger,

Thomas

On the list of those

Who have disappeared

in Chile

Stroke the cheek,

Thomas,

Of the little girl

Sold in prostitution

In Thailand

Touch, Thomas,

The gaping wounds

Of my world.

Feel, Thomas,

The primal wound

Of my people.

Reach out your hands,

Thomas,

And place them at the side of the poor.

Grasp my hands, Thomas,

And believe.

The Pattern of our days Kathy Galloway Iona community pg 137

CHILDREN OF LIGHT

Snippet

I rise to taste the dawn, and find that love alone will shine today. Ken Wilber

Scripture

But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief.  For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night.  So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. 1 Thessalonians 5:4,6

Song

All the Little Lights Passenger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2gr0XQxbi4

One went out at a bus stop in Edinburgh

One went out in an english park

One went out in a nightclub when I was fifteen

Little lights in my heart

One went out when I lied to my mother

Said the cigarettes she found were not mine

One went out within me now I smoke like a chimney

Its getting dark in this heart of mine

Its getting dark in this heart of mine

We’re born with millions of little lights shining in the dark

And they show us the way

One lights up

Every time you feel love in your heart

One dies when it moves away

One went out in the backstreets of Manchester

One went out in an airport in Spain

One went out I’ve no doubt when I grew up and moved out

Of the place where the boy used to play

One went out when uncle ben got his tumour

We used to fish and I fish no more

Though he will not return

I know one still burns

On a fishing boat off the new jersey shore

On a fishing boat off the new jersey shore

We’re born with millions of little lights shining in the dark

And they show us the way

One lights up

Every time we feel love in our hearts

One dies when it moves away

We’re born with millions of little lights shiny in our hearts

And they die along the way

Till we’re old and we’re cold

And lying in the dark

Cos they’ll all burn out one day

They’ll all burn out one day

They’ll all burn out one day

They’ll all burn out one day

Sentence Prayer

Creator of the universe, thank you for your dazzling imagination.  Set a fire inside us that burns with your love.  Help us to shine as you shine, so that people might not see us but see you shining through us.  Amen 

Pg 391 ordindary Radicals

GOD IS NOT DEAD

Snippet

The Jesus who walked the roads of Judea and Galilee is the one who stands beside us.  The Christ of history is the Christ of faith.  Brenan Manning Reflections of a Ragamuffin pg 132

Scripture

For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.  He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:12-14 NLT

Song

God is Not Dead Newsboys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_OTz-lpDjw

Let love explode and bring the dead to life

A love so bold

To see a revolution somehow

Let love explode and bring the dead to life

A love so bold

To see a revolution somehow

Now I'm lost in Your freedom

In this world I'll overcome

My God's not dead

He's surely alive

He's living on the inside

Roaring like a lion [x2]

Roaring He's roaring roaring like a lion

Let hope arise and make the darkness hide

My faith is dead I need resurrection somehow

Now I'm lost in Your freedom

In this world I'll overcome

My God's not dead

He's surely alive

He's living on the inside

Roaring like a lion [x2]

Roaring He's roaring roaring like a lion

Roaring He's roaring

Let heaven roar and fire fall

Come shake the ground

With the sounds of revival [x3]

My God's not dead

He's surely alive

He's living on the inside

Roaring like a lion [x4]

He's Roaring He's roaring He's roaring like a lion [x2]

God’s Not Dead

Sentence Prayer

Jesus,

May I be infected with a

Resurrected life in you. 

Amen