At the Southwestern District Leadership conference I was at this weekend (an amazing spiritual experience) during one of our worship services we sang a song I had never heard before. As I (in good Unitarian Universalist fashion) read lyrics one line ahead to make sure I agreed with them before I sang, I faltered in my singing... not because I disagreed, but because I was in awe.
I have for years looked for the perfect Deist hymn. I have looked for a hymn that captured what Deism was to me, and explained it in a way that others could understand. One that was still full of life and spirit, and could move the soul.
I found it.
When we were done singing and everyone else sat down I wanted to ask we sing it again... but I didnt. Instead, I went up to the choir director and got a copy of the lyrics.
It is a song by Peter Mayer, and it is entitled "Holy Now". I hope these lyrics move you as much as they did me.
Quote:
Holy Now
Peter Mayer
When I was a boy, each week on Sunday we would go to church,
And pay attention to the priest… he would read the holy word,
And consecrate the holy bread… and everyone would kneel and bow,
Today the only difference is everything is holy now.
Everything, Everything, Everything is holy now.
When I was in Sunday school we would learn about the time,
Moses split the sea in two… Jesus made the water wine,
And I remember feeling sad that miracles don’t happen still
But now I can’t keep track ‘cause everything’s a miracle,
Everything, Everything, Everything’s a miracle.
Wine from water is not so small… but an even better magic trick,
Is that anything is here at all.
So the challenging thing becomes not to look for miracles,
But finding where there isn’t one.
When holy water was rare at best… it barely wet my fingertips,
But now I have to hold my breath… like I’m swimming in a sea of it
It used to be a world half there… Heaven’s second rate hand-me-down,
But I walk it with a reverent air ‘cause everything is holy now.
Read a questioning child’s face and say it’s not a testament,
That’d be very hard to say
See another new morning come and say it’s not a sacrament,
I tell you that it can’t be done.
This morning, outside I stood and saw a little red-winged bird,
Shining like a burning bush, singing like a scripture verse.
It made me want to bow my head, I remember when church let out,
How things have changed since then… everything is holy now.
It used to be a world half there, Heaven’s second rate hand-me-down,
But I walk it with a reverent air ‘cause everything is holy now.
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Yours in Faith,
David
11-13-2005, 06:56 PM
A UU hymn for Deism
If they are not attacking you, that means they are not worried about you. ~ Kevin Madden ~ 
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