If you missed this past Friday’s concert, Edem Soul Music, it is available on demand by clicking HERE.
Be sure to tune in for Kusi Taki – the music of the Andes, this Friday, August 14th, at 7pm on our YouTube channel or at www.countrysideuccc.org/concerts. You can check out a preview by clicking HERE.
If you are watching on KMTV and would like to view the prelude, you can do so on our YouTube page by viewing today’s service video. The prelude will take place live on YouTube at 10:50 each Sunday.
Nada Te Turbe
The text Nada Te Turbe (Let Nothing Trouble You) was written by sixteenth century Carmelite nun Teresa of Avila, and set to music by Jacques Berthier of the Taize community.
Nada te turbe, nada te espante, todo se pasa,
Dios no se muda.
La paciencia todo lo alcanza quien a Dios tiene nada le falta:
sólo Dios basta.
Let nothing trouble you; let nothing frighten you; everything changes *,
but God does not.
[Through] patience you will obtain everything;
whoever has God is lacking nothing:
[having] only God is enough.
* or “passes away”
Prelude in C Major from WTC Book I – J.S. Bach
Blackbird – Lennon-McCartney
Though “Blackbird” has a number of “origin stories”, all tie into the civil rights movement in one way or another. McCartney said that the song was inspired by the Little Rock Nine and their fight to enroll in an all-white school. For this series on racial justice, we will feature a unique version of Blackbird each week for the prelude.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of a dark black night
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
God of Freedom God of Justice – Text by Shirley Elena Murray
God of freedom, God of justice, you whose love is strong as death,
you who saw the dark of prison, you who knew the price of faith —
touch our world of sad oppression with your Spirit’s healing breath.
Rid the earth of torture’s terror, you whose hands were nailed to wood;
hear the cries of pain and protest, you who shed the tears and blood —
move in us the power of pity restless for the common good.
Make in us a captive conscience quick to hear, to act, to plead;
make us truly sisters, brothers of whatever race or creed —
teach us to be fully human, open to each other’s needs.
Lay it Down – Edem Soul Music
Edem wrote this song for the times when, in her own words, “life gets really difficult and you just need to take a break, and sometimes your problems become so much that they are more than you can handle – at that point, you just lay them down.”
I see pain in your eyes. It’s pourin’ right from your heart.
I know I’m not the greatest at giving advice, but here’s one that I have for you.
Here’s what you should do:
Lay it down,
Lay it down and put your problems to rest.
And if that doesn’t work,
you can always reach your hand out to the sky.
Maybe it’ll be alright.
If you cannot find the strength, I’m not that far away, I’ll come to your aid,
But until then, I need you to lay it down.
God, May Your Justice Roll Down – Text by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
God, may your justice roll down like the waters you send here,
And may your righteousness flow like a stream without end here!
Praying this prayer, many have struggled and dared,
All for the world you intend here.
Christ, we give thanks for past saints who renewed education,
Freed the oppressed, brought your healing and fought segregation.
Savior and Lord, great were the risks they endured,
Bearing your hope and salvation.
We as your church now remember these stories of others
And pray your Spirit will send us, as your sons and daughters.
Show us the way we, too, can serve you each day
Till justice rolls down like waters.
Here is a reflection by the author, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette:
“God, May Your Justice Roll Down” is based on Amos 5:24: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Through the centuries, countless Christians have done just that. They have worked for reforms in education, sought to end oppression, worked in ministries of healing, and struggled to bring civil rights to all people.
Who are the saints of old who have inspired you? Are they famous people you read about in books and learned about in school? Are they your grandparents and great-grandparents who worked in communities you know and care about? How has justice rolled down like waters — waters that can’t be stopped — because of the work and witness of the saints that you know?