Religion - nah!!

'What role have I left for religion?' asks Robert Farrar Capon, in 'The Parables of Grace'. 'None', he continues,'and I have left none because the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ leaves none.' At this point many Christians may get a little nervous, thinking that it's religion they believe in. But being Christian & religious are 2 radically different things, as Capon often says.'Religion consists of all the things ... the human race has ever thought it had to do to get right with God' (believing, behaving, worshipping, sacrificing). The church is not in the religion business, or at least, it shouldn't be. It's Christ who frees us from 'sin, death & the devil'. Not religion.
I got disturbed last night by someone in the media, dismissing faith, & I needed to get back into something that I, for one, find exceptionally riveting. Bedrock, basic. Capon, US Episcopalian priest, speaks my language. I love his 3 books on the parables, the 2nd one (The Parables of Grace) most of all. But it's another book I've started rereading, the third in a collection called 'The Romance of the Word'. It's called 'Hunting the Divine Fox'. A last quote (though I'm sure I'll get back to him in future blogs): 'God creates everything at every moment'.
Check out Capon if you get a chance.

Feeling bad not so bad

No, it really is a pain if we inflict unnecessary negativity on those around us. Self-pity, feeling sorry for ourselves (oh, poor me!) is a drag for others and totally unhelpful for us as well.
And, of course, there's life events, chemical imbalances & heaps of other things that seriously make us feel down. For good reason!
As always, the Bible relates to all this. Everyday humanity is what the Scriptures know. And we shouldn't pretend to always feel great if this just isn't the case. So the Bible has plenty of not-all-together positive writings in it. And some of it's really down - Ecclesiates, much of the prophets, many of the Psalms.
Hard to find struggling Psalms in today's songbooks. But we desperately need songs expressing all that we are & feel. I've written a few like it, but I need to do a whole lot more.
'Then I will praise you' is based on Ps 42-43.
Some people in Wisconsin found the first line pretty hard.
1. When I feel miserable, down and depressed,
worthless, I feel that I've never been blessed,
You hold me gently with your unseen hands.
Later I'll see you, my friend.
Then I will praise you, God, I will praise you.
Then I will praise you, my saviour, again.
2. You seem so far away, you, and your light;
darkness has covered me, thick as the night;
I've lost direction, I can't find my way.
God, bring this night to an end!

3. Send out your light and truth, they'll be my guide.
Where there's your light and truth, troubles subside.
Fill me with wonder, surprise me with joy.
Only on you I depend.

Getting to know the wrong people

We need more songs about the alternative values of Jesus. In readings today, God tells us to forget about being right, religious & respectable. The gospel especially (Matt 9) has Jesus calling a tax collector (Matthew) to follow him, which he does. Then, while he was having lunch, tax collectors & other outcasts came & joined him. When he was criticised by the "right" people, he told them to go & check the prophet Hosea (an OT reading for today):"What I want is mercy, not sacrifice!"
To make matters clearer, he heals two women that any right-thinking religious person should have nothing to do with: a woman with a serious menstrual malfunction & a girl who had already died. They laughed when he said she was only sleeping, & he was going to wake her up.
'You've got the strangest ways, you've got the strangest ways,
you've got the strangest ways, how can I understand you?
Man say bigger, he want bigger,
you come ever so small.
Woman say stronger, she want stronger,
you come ever so weak.
They were looking for a strong man,
a hero with a strong hand,
you came with peace, you came with love,
they thought you were the wrong man....'
(from the collection 'God. Version 1.0')

Good News

14 years ago, we were in St Louis, USA, waiting around for gigs to start. Waiting time often allows some song-writing for me. The theme for the July student service at St Stephen's was 'If I touch your clothes', based on Mark 5. So I wrote the song I blogged about on May 20th.
Thought I'd mention another one, after my eye was caught by the last sentence in the gospel: 'the news about this spread all over that part of the country'. When the Good News Bible was released in Adelaide, Kindekrist (our band) was asked to do a jingle for the TV ad done by the local CTA (Christian Television Association). I wrote something & we recorded it at Peppers in Adelaide. Rod Boucher produced it & helped us a lot with the arrangement. It took all of one and a half hours to record! I thought of it recently & played it a few times on my Maton 12 string guitar (bought a few years later).

A thousand books and papers can’t match one word from you
Your truth is always good news
your news is always true
Out of the silence clouding me,
your voice is loud and clear
With life and love you speak to me
showing me the one who comes to drive away my fear
Your words live through the ages
their music never changes
God’s love is in the pages of the Good News,
Good News

One of the few ads I've done over the years. We recorded it on our 2nd LP 'Father Songs', released in the same month as our twin sons, Jon & Thom.

Wherever I go

For a couple of my university years I often wore a little white badge with green letters saying 'Don't be afraid'(quite a few of us at Uni wore badges in the late 60's). As it happens, it's one of the most common sayings in the Bible, often translated as 'Fear not!', usually coming from God or one of the angels. I always wanted to write a song of this title. The phrase has popped up in some, I've often sung John Bell's chorus of that title, but maybe I'll just have to be content with the general idea.
'Wherever I go', written in '97, with some help from Dorothy, & also from Thom, is on the right track. Especially because the song partly grows out of the story of Jacob's dream, & reassuring words from God. One of the best comments I ever got about a song came about this one, from a wheelchair-bound young woman, a cerebral palsy sufferer, who told me that the chorus line 'however I move, you walk at my pace' felt like it had been written just for her.
And after I'd written it, Dorothy reminded me that our wedding text was the same reassuring statement from God, found in Genesis 28!
Reassurance is one of the key feelings I have from being a Christian. Lots of my songs say it in one way or another. It's not a strong sense of confidence in how well I'm doing, but in how well God takes care of us. Titles like 'Father welcomes', 'Comfort comfort', 'Jesus, please watch over us' point the way.

'On every day of every year
the weather may change - but you're still here!'

('Wherever I go': in 'God Version 1.0' & 'All together Whatever')