Music: Remembering the laughter & the love & the tasks before us
Everyone has something they like about Jesus, the Christ, and I reckon I’m no exception. There’s a lot to like – the Sermon on the Mount, his lessons on love, his direction that we care for those with less – and one of my favourites is the story where he throws the money changers out of the temple.
We have a lot of folks, now, who have turned this beautiful place we live in & love into a robber’s den…and the time has come to call it what it is, and turn them out.
I like the way Jackson’s song addresses this, and like him, I wish you the best of Christmases.
Love you,
Brother Ian, on the side of the Rebel Jesus
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All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants’ windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
They’ll be gathering around the hearths and tales
Giving thanks for all of God’s graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
Well they call him by the prince of peace
And they call him by the savior
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they’ve turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber’s den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why they are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus
But please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgement
For I’ve no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus.
Over the centuries, Brother Ian has been collecting stories & information & discourses for the purpose of elevating the human condition as needed, dissecting it when necessary, and building the case for hope.