I have a dream

“I have a dream”, a man once said,
“where all is perfect peace;
where men and women, black and white,
stand hand in hand, and all unite
in freedom and in love.”

But in this world of bitter strife
the dream can often fade;
reality seems dark as night,
we catch but glimpses of the light
Christ sheds on humankind.

Fierce persecution, war, and hate
are raging everywhere;
God calls us now to pay the price
through struggles and through sacrifice
of standing for the right.

So dream the dreams and sing the songs,
but never be content:
for thoughts and words don’t ease the pain:
unless there’s action, all is vain;
faith proves itself in deeds.

Lord, give us vision, make us strong,
help us to do your will;
don’t let us rest until we see
your love throughout humanity
uniting us in peace.

-- Pamela J. Pettitt (1954 – 2005)

Metre: 86.886

Suggested tunes: "Chalfont Park" (StF 708); “Repton” (StF 495 – with repeated last line)

 Love And Justice

Chorus
Oh God of love and justice
Let Your Will be done

Verse 1
The politicians lie to lengthen their regime
The corporations buy souls for profit
The factories breathe acid
And leak into the stream
And every day the earth gets hotter who will stop it

Verse 2
Newscasters amuse
Distracting from the truth
The advertisers use sex for profit
Entertainers choose to seduce our youth
Life gets cheaper every day who will stop it

Verse 3
Terrorists plot violence
And governments do too
Scientists and engineers improve our kill power
Parents sit in silence not knowing what to do
Who will stir the dying embers of good will power

Verse 4
The churches pray for peace
But then they vote for war
The preachers preach for profit and twist our story
No wonder people don't believe anymore
They're waiting for good news of hope and glory

Verse 5
The human race is building a suicide machine
The people cheer and dance as gears are turning
When will we wake up from
This self-destructive scheme
So everything can change God's Kingdom coming

Brian McLaren
© 2007 Revolution of Hope Music Group (Admin. by Brian McLaren)

THE PRAYER OF OSCAR ROMERO

 

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
It is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
Which is another way of saying that
The Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that should be said.
No prayer fully expressed our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
Knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produced effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
And there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
A step along the way,
An opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
But that is the difference
Between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
Ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future that is not our own.

Archbishop Oscar Romero