So let us speak!

Hello, hello!

We invited Joel Mason to share a Filid service with us this past Sunday, bringing in as many friends and family members as we could muster to attend this "innovative, contemplative worship experience that utilized original music, art and liturgy to open up spaces of inner/outer expression and reflection."   Danny and I each wrote a song to be performed for the service, and Joel wrote a full-on QUADRANGLE song-set complete with 5 characters who each in some way make up a part of each of us.  Harmonies were soaring, lyrics and poetry were piercing, questions were raised, and thoughts were provoked.  

Joel told me once, while we were planning for the Filid... 
and I'm totally paraphrasing or handing out my own interpretation of what he said.. - 
"Plenty of people can go to church on any given Sunday and feel like they're connecting with God..  this isn't primarily written for them.  I'm writing this in part for those who have too many questions to easily just sit in church.  
We're going to create and sing out that dialogue that's already coursing through their minds, we're bringing questions thoughts and doubts to the surface that would otherwise stay hidden.."  It could be a dialogue between generations, between teacher and congregation, between what you believe and what you wish you believe, and so on.

It was an honor to be a part of this Filid - as we prepared for it over the last month, some of the small chapters of the Quadrangle really hit home with me.  I feel it that God has been healing me through these texts, songs and prayers.  
I will not give up.  I will forgive.

Here are the quotes, call and response poetry, lyrics to my and Danny's songs, and the scripts for the Quadrangle.  
If you were with us yesterday, I'm posting this so that you'll be able to go back and pinpoint some of those moments where you might've been stirred, where God may have been moving and trying to speak something deep and healing to you.  
If you weren't able to attend the Filid, you missed out!!  
But don't worry, we will be performing it again.  Just comment at the end of this blog or at this event page with your email address if you'd like to be notified of future performances like this.  


The deets: 1.  Thomas Merton quote
2.  Alive Somehow by Danny Churchill
3.  So Let Us Speak by Joel Mason
4.  Pablo Neruda quote
5.  Leave and Stay by Jessica Smith
6.  Quadrangle by Joel Mason

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1.  Thomas Merton

“It is useless to try to make peace with ourselves by being pleased with everything we have done. In order to settle down in the quiet of our own being we must learn to be detached from the results of our own activity. We must withdraw ourselves, to some extent, from effects that are beyond our control and be content with the good will and the work that are the quiet expression of our inner life. We must be content to live without watching ourselves live, to work without expecting an immediate reward, to love without an instantaneous satisfaction, and to exist without any special recognition.”

2.  Alive Somehow by Danny Churchill

I was there the moment that you woke

I couldn't believe the sparkle in your eyes

I can't believe the way you look at me now

It keeps me coming back for more, keeps me alive somehow

I was there the first moment that you walked

I couldn't believe just how far you got

I can't believe the places you are going now

It keeps me coming back for more, keeps me alive somehow

Oh it keeps me coming back for more, keeps me alive somehow

I was there even when you couldn't see

Holding you close, whispering softly

You can't believe that I am here with you now

It keeps me coming back for more, keeps me alive somehow

Oh you keep me coming back for more, keep me alive somehow

3.  So Let Us Speak by Joel Mason

I will not give up 

I will forgive 

the world is mad 

the world is beautiful 

my days are numbered 

and one day I will be extinguished like an evening fire

so let us speak of that which is older than our beginning 

and shall over-live our end: 

the mercy of God. 

I will not give up

I will forgive

I have a sad story 

like each person here 

I carry it with me 

to work 

to the dinner table 

to my bed

I cannot heal myself 

by fighting injustice 

but neither can I be myself 

If I remain blind to oppression

so let us speak of that which is older than our beginning 

and shall over-live our end: 

the mercy of God. 

I will not give up

I will forgive

I cannot make the world different 

through the art I produce 

but neither can the world change 

without the invasion of beauty

what we think we change 

reverts to its deep currents when we are gone 

what we try to stabilize 

breaks down in a field 

and is scattered to the four corners of the earth

so let us speak of that which is older than our beginning 

and shall over-live our end: 

the mercy of God. 

I will not give up

I will forgive

The faith I once knew 

now gives me no rest

no peace in the heart 

I wander without a home 

because while I separate from one theological injustice after another 

I cannot shake the sense that I am on a journey 

not of my own making 

becoming at home in the wandering

so let us speak of that which is older than our beginning 

and shall over-live our end: 

the mercy of God. 

I will not give up

I will forgive

Without my permission 

the world aches in me 

and I ache in the world

without my say-so 

the crowds of people walking past me 

sing their names into my ears 

each one lonely in a crowd 

they are a crowd of individual mysteries 

singing to me their names 

I hear them and hurry

into my house, my house of faith, of art, or of justice, 

to find pen and paper 

to put down their names 

to show that they were here

that they lived 

and loved 

and hated 

and forgave 

and slid up 

and slid down 

exploded

and grew silent with the years

family man 

broken-hearted man 

fly by the seat of your pants man

stiff upper lip woman 

honest woman 

losing herself woman

I sing your names 

your everyday names

up into the air 

but without a cross-wind 

my song falls again to earth 

soon to be forgotten

so let us speak of that which is older than our beginning 

and shall over-live our end: 

the mercy of God. 

I will not give up

I will forgive

I am tinder. 

alone or with others 

I will nonetheless burn 

but will it be with only dying 

that I am set ablaze 

or with holy determination as well?

who I am 

is a mystery to me 

I came from the toil 

of generation after generation 

each one filled with its own mixture 

of love

and self-protection

their lives and their work 

their sins and their righteous deeds 

are present with us now 

pushing us forward 

and holding us back 

we are human 

we did not make ourselves

so let us speak of that which is older than our beginning 

and shall over-live our end: 

the mercy of God. 

I will not give up

I will forgive

faith disappears 

art fades 

justice disappoints 

but before they do 

let us celebrate 

the promise to which they point 

and aim for that horizon 

without whatever power we seem to hold

4. How Much Happens in a Day by Pablo Neruda

In the course of a day we shall meet one another. 

But, in one day, things spring to life-- 

they sell grapes in the street, 

tomatoes change their skin,

the young girl you wanted 

never came back to the office.

They change the postman suddenly. 

The letters now are not the same. 

A few golden leaves and it’s different; 

this tree is now well off.

Who would have said that the earth 

with its ancient skin would change so much? 

It has more volcanoes than yesterday, 

the sky has brand-new clouds, 

the rivers are flowing differently. 

Besides, so much has come into being! 

I have inaugurated hundreds 

of highways and buildings, 

delicate, clean bridges 

like ships or violins.

And so, when I greet you 

and kiss your flowering mouth, 

our kisses are other kisses, 

our mouths are other mouths.

Joy, my love, 

joy in all things, 

in what falls and what flourishes.

Joy in today and yesterday, 

the day before and tomorrow.

Joy in bread and stone, 

joy in fire and rain.

In what changes, is born, grows, 

consumes itself, and becomes a kiss again.

Joy in the air we have, 

and in what we have of earth.

When our life dries up, 

only the roots remain to us, 

and the wind is cold like hate.

Then let us change our skin, 

our nails, our blood, our gazing; 

and you kiss me and I go out 

to sell light on the roads.

Joy in the night and the day, 

and the four stations of the soul.

(translated by Alastair Reid)

5.  Leave and Stay by Jessica Smith

Was not my heart burning within me
Was my soul on fire
Were not the words opened up within me
Was my soul on fire
When he spoke freely

Did not we dance upon the road
Did our mouths not sing
Did not he hold my hand on the open road
Did I not sing
When he spoke freely
When he stayed

Leave the stone
Leave the grave
Forsake, leave the stone
Leave to stay

The night has come
My light has gone away
But here you are
Stay with me

Even death, even the night
Cannot have your dead body
We'll be eating bread, be drinking wine,
Be toasting our sad memories

The night has come
My light had gone away
But here you are
And here you'll stay
Stay with me

6.  Quadrangle by Joel Mason

Dionysus - Joel

- pleasure and the now

Persephone - Brianna

- death and the ending of things

Theosophus - Danny

- wisdom

Veritas - Jessica

- truth

The Jester - Daryl

Chorus - Daryl and YOU

D: I am here at the cracking of the world,
     to sip its goodness

P: Raise me to your lips and drink

T: Inside, outside, raging, caging! Where can I find the light of life?

V: I sing inside, I sing inside, I break into your shanty towns.

C: Tables & chairs and marbles rolling on and on across the floor, your ankles must be strong!


D & P: how holy are the places where sweetness is found!
(P: it’s passing away)
(D: i never think of it)

T & V: how holy are the mines of wisdom, where my brightest diamond lays sleeping!
   (T: will she line up with my theories?)
   (V: can i show my body to him?)

C: I kissed the tops of a thousand midnight rooftops! I don’t even know what that means! I stole the rubies from your pride like they were apples on a forgotten tree!


Chorus: O people, remember your vows, purchase them now, we wouldn’t sell your numbers to anyone!

--
D: Life is for the living
P: for the taking
T: for the learning
V: for the planets aligning

P: In the wake of mystery, I sing of the truth of human failure
T: there is wisdom in that
V: there is truth in that
D: I will drink to that

C: I’m already drunk trying to forget that!

--
T: I can make it
   through these years
   If I can just
   get these things right
   grow my wisdom,
   mind expanding,
   taking in the
   depth of life

V: let me help you
    make it through these
    jagged passions
    trust my body
    pound me down with
    all your questions
    I will give back
    into you


P: I am wandering
     through a world that
     i was born to
     see at dusk
     someone somewhere
     fill my longing
     for the love
     of death and dust

D: death and dust, love
     death and dust, love
     these are what you
     make life out of
     i see your valley
    spread before me
    let my seasons
    visit you

--
D&P:
while we are tangled
me and you
you and me
while we are tangled
me and you
you and me
let us speak of who we are
me and you
you and me
speak of who we really are
me and you
you and me

T&V:
while we are pounding
me and you
you and me
while we are reaching
me and you
you and me
let us speak of who we want to be
me and you
you and me
speak of who we could possibly be
me and you
you and me

E:
all of us, all of us, all of us, all.....


C:
who do i hear? i call a challenge
i throw this blood on your floor
i ache for an answer
give it to me

Chorus: there is a sound in the heavens, and in the everyday things
              kettles rattle in kitchens, dogs howl and telephones ring

--
T&V:
my longing is strung out on laundry wire
you can see it for miles if you look
i’m not ashamed of this
the good book has taught me
not to be scared of being alone
with the truth

D&P:
my heart is a muscle that had a beginning
i know one day that there will be an end
I’m not ashamed of this
the good book has taught me
not to be scared of being alone

T&V:
my longing

D&P:
is muscle
my heart

T&V:
is stringing out

E:
we had our beginning
out on a laundry wire

V:
you can see us for miles if you look

P: I know one day there will be an end

end of part 1

--
C & Chorus: every morning they wake up, put on their make-up, come out here to watch the stars fade into space.

--
V:
what fades does not die
no, no, no
it is just up beyond my sight
oh, oh, oh

T:
what’s beyond must be the light of life
oh oh oh


V:
then why
oh why
am i still crying?

P:
what fades does surely die
oh, oh, oh
I have seen the light leave my lover’s eyes,
lo, lo, lo

D:
but what goes to dust will make new life,
oh, oh, oh

P:
then why
oh why
am I still crying?

E:

then why

oh why

am I still crying?

--
D:
may the treasure in life
comfort your bones
as you walk
down to death

weaker and weaker
we go

--
(Benedictus)

V:
Home...........
D:
Home.......
P:
Home.....
T:
Home......

E:     ing pigeon fly


T:
I loose you from my fingertips
i’m sorry
I couldn’t help but tie a string
but you see
the place I was born
is a place I’ve never been

V:

Home...........

D:

Home.......

P:

Home.....

T:

Home......

E:     ing pigeon fly

V:
I’m sorry for your fingertips
I couldn’t help but tie 
the place I was born 
to the place you’ve never been

V:
Home...........
D:
Home.......
P:
Home.....
T:
Home......

      E:   less.........


P:
I fell upon you like a sword
I made love out there in the wilderness 
my fallen soldier home
you are ever walking away

D:
I rang the bell in you
watched it swing from side to side
I felt the water changing space
you were ever receding, standing still

fin.

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Find more music by Joel Mason on his bandcamp page for The Mighty River.

Buy his cd, it's AWESOME.

View the previous Filid invite to find out more about this event 

and to request updates for future Filid events.

The gang!!

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Epiphany - Guide us to Thy perfect light!

- a sudden, intuitive perception of (or insight into) the reality or essential meaning of something.

- a Christian festival, observing the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles (in the persons of the Magi).

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Here is a glimpse of our Call to Worship this last Sunday along with a song we sang to celebrate the Epiphany - the reality of Christ's birth being revealed to the Magi.  Have a wonderful week as the magic and mystery of the Advent of Jesus continues!!

"Disturb us, Lord.

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves.

When our dreams have come true, because we dream too little.

When we have arrived safely, because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life.

Having fallen in love with life, we have stopped dreaming of eternity.

And in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery.  

Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push into the future.

In strength, courage, hope and love."

-Sir Francis Drake-

Blessed be the God of Israel

(listen by clicking the link to the right)
Blessed be the God of Israel, who comes to set us free,
who visits and redeems us, and grants us liberty.
The prophets spoke of mercy, of freedom and release;
God shall fulfill the promise to bring our people peace.
Star of wonder, star of light!
Guide us to Thy perfect light!

On prisoners of darkness the sun begins to rise,
the dawning of forgiveness upon the sinner's eyes,
to guide the feet of pilgrims all along the paths of peace;
O bless our God and Savior with songs that never cease!
Star of wonder, star of light!
Guide us to Thy perfect light!

For lo! the days are hastening on, by prophets seen of old,
when with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold
when peace shall, over all the earth, its ancient splendors fling,
and the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing! 
Star of wonder, star of light!
Star of royal beauty bright!
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to Thy perfect light!
Guide us to Thy perfect light!

The light of God through the birth of Christ!

Hello beloved Thirdway and anyone else choosing to share the advent ceremony with us!

Here is our literature for lighting the Christ candle tonight - it's the final candle we'll be lighting together in anticipation of tomorrow's miracle, the birth of Christ.  If you wanna get real wild, you could even wait until midnight to light it.  This time around, you'll need at least two readers for the liturgy, and then one for each candle, if you've got enough people. - 

I pray that God will bless you deeply as you go through the readings together.  May hope, peace and God's neverending goodness be stirred up in your hearts, pulling you into the mercy of tomorrow's lovely and generous gift.

The light of God is coming to you, through the birth of Christ.

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reader1

Justice is far from us, 

and righteousness does not reach us.

reader2

Do not be afraid.

r1

We look for light but all is darkness;

for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.

r2

Do not be afraid, 

for unto us a child is born!

r1

Like the blind, we grope along the wall, 

feeling our way like men without eyes.

At midday, we stumble as if it were twilight;

we look for justice, but find none, 

for deliverance, but it is far away.

r2

Do not be afraid,

I bring you good news of great joy

that will be for all people!

(sing together)

The light of God through the birth of Christ!

r1

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 

 r2

Lift up your eyes and look about you;

All assemble and come to you;

your sons come from afar, 

and your daughters are carried on the arm.

Indeed, you will look and be radiant,

your heart will throb and swell with joy.

r1

No longer will violence be heard in your land, 

nor ruin or destruction within your borders,

but you'll call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.

The sun will no longer be your light by day,

nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, 

for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and your God will be your glory.  

r2

Your sun will never set again,

and your moon will wane no more;

the Lord will be your everlasting light,

and your days of sorrow will end.

Then all your people will be righteous 

and they'll possess the land forever.

The least of you will become a thousand,

the smallest a mighty nation.

I am the Lord; in its time, I will do this swiftly.

r1

Do not be afraid.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death, 

a light has dawned.

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

r2

Do not be afraid,

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.

Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you;

he is Christ the Lord.

Glory to God in the highest,

peace on earth, and goodwill to all men,

on whom God's favor rests!

The light of God through the birth of Christ!

The light of God through the birth of Christ!

The light of God through the birth of Christ!

(if you've got 5 candles, light each candle as you read.)

r1

It is because of the zeal of the Lord Almighty 

that all of these things will be accomplished!

We light the candle of hope, 

in faith that the birth of Christ is coming.

r2

We light the candle of peace, 

because wholeness and shalom will come with the birth of Christ.

r3

We light the candle of joy, 

because God has chosen to be near us

through the birth of Christ.

r4

We light the candle of love,

because God so loved the world that he gave his only son,

that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

r5

We light the candle of Christ,

because the consolation and salvation of the world

have come through the birth of Christ.

All the earth is waiting!

And we too, wait expectantly for your kingdom, 

as it comes in fullness.

The light of God through the birth of Christ!

The light of God through the birth of Christ!

The light of God through the birth of Christ!

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Advent art by Rudy Arnold
Advent liturgy pulled from Isaiah 9, 59, 60, & Luke 2