Blistered by the prophet...

I sang at Journey this morning. I don't sing very often. There are several reasons for that...one, we have a ton of talented, gifted musicians and singers who grace us with their musical gifts. Two, I'm not one of the afore-mentioned group. I'm not trying to be pseudo-humble or self-deprecating...I just happen to be very clear about what my talents are and are not...I'm a below average guitar player with an average voice. That's just the facts...anyway, I digress... it was a day when we talked about our community's commitment to the poor, and those in need in Austin and around the world. It was very beautiful...Cathy from Project HELP who works with helping kids and families who are homeless find resources to get them through, talked about her job and how Journey folks have helped in that over the last three+ years. Alan the founder of Mobile Loaves and Fishes was there and Heather from CASA. Because part of my job and my privilege is to work with the team from Journey that decides how to best use our resources to support ministries and agencies like this both with money and people power, I was asked to sing. I sang the Derek Webb song "This Too Shall Be Made Right" (see the video above this post). Well, I sorta sang the song...Actually I sang 4 of the 5 verses to the song, which were dead on in our faces as a community as we seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus in helping make some of these things right. The reason I left out a verse was that I didn't have the cajones to sing verse 4. It echoes and paraphrases the words of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes by saying "there is a time for peace and a time for war...a time to forgive and a time to settle the score...a time for babies to lose their lives...a time for hunger and genocide...and this too shall be made right". I think I understand what Derek is going for. That is always a dangerous thing when listening to a lyric...assuming you know what was going on in the head of the writer. I guess that is true for most poetry and sermons too, but I just couldn't sing it... especially the part about a time for babies to lose their lives. I know that babies lose their lives...and children, and teenagers, and adults...but I couldn't sing it. My friends Scott and Sarah are staring down the gun barrel of precious weeks and months left with their beautiful two year old Thomas who has cancer. I can't sing it... I don't want to sing that there are times for war and times for hunger and genocide either...Maybe I'm a coward... but I'm not gonna sing it...not as long as we have the power to work to change it...and I think with God's help and a willingness to sacrifice and commit resources to not only the symptoms, but the root causes there will be hope that "Thy kingdom come...on earth as it is in heaven" will be not just a line from a recited prayer, but a reality...

Now THAT I can sing...

Pling...Pling...

dg