Bruxvoort Colligan Songs

You Embrace with Your Tenderness

You Embrace with Your Tenderness
Song ©2017 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
Song Text: Pope Francis, © 2015 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

You embrace with your tenderness
All that exists

[Prayers by Jake Johnson]

1. God of grace, we give you thanks for renewing the church in every age. Bless those who proclaim your mercy throughout the world, meeting the needs of humanity and protesting injustice. Teach us to claim your creation with your compassion, with your tenderness.

2. Generous God, your eye is on the sparrow and you are present with all things. Revitalize your pollinators around the world, heal the forests and rivers wounded by humankind, and guide our stewardship so that all life flourishes as you intend.

3. Compassionate God, we celebrate the life of your lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, pan-gender, two-spirited, queer, questioning, gender variant, intersex, bi-gender, asexual, pansexual, agender, gender queer persons, all of your children who don’t quite fit into any of these identities, and those learning more about what makes them them. Be with us as we grow evermore into our true selves, and give courage to everyone who faces oppression, bigotry, hunger and homelessness. For you embrace all.

©2017 Worldmaking.net (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Use with permission please. Licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net

We Give Ourselves

We Give Ourselves
©2017 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan

We give ourselves to the earth
We give ourselves to one another
And find ourselves in Christ

“The more I give myself to the earth, the more I belong to God.”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Prayer of the Universe

No one has ever really seen God, but if we love each other, God is in us.
If anyone says they love God and hates their sibling, they lie.
If we don’t love the people right in front of us, how can we love God who is invisible?

1 John 4 (paraphrase by RBC)

©2017 Worldmaking.net (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Use with permission please. Licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net

Tree Song

The Tree Song
©2017 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan

These woods have trees.
Each tree has growth rings.
Each ring a story of its fight.
These trees are strong–
strong and resilient.
Each year a circle added to a beautiful life.
Hard and easy, laughing, weeping,
storm and sunshine, real life.
Sometimes lovely, sometimes crazy
Nothing’s wrong as we grow inside.

©2017 Worldmaking.net (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Use with permission please. Licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net

Teach Us What It Means to Pray

Teach Us What It Means to Pray
by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan and Bret Hesla
Teach us what it means to pray
in all this world of sorrow
Teach us what it means to pray
and do our part for good
More than duty, more than words can say
Teach us what it means to pray

Teach us what it means to live
with a whole heart on this planet
Teach us what it means to live
even only for this breath
What is ours to take and what to give?
Teach us what it means to live

Teach us what it means to try
to heal a world split open
Teach us what it means to try
to share another’s pain
One part suffers, all creation cries
Teach us what it means to try

Teach us what it means to live
Teach us what it means to pray

Words and music by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan and Bret Hesla. © 2017 Worldmaking.net(ASCAP). All rights reserved. Use with permission, please. Licensed via OneLicense.net, CCLI and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net

I understand prayer very differently today than I did when I was younger. I’m pretty sure that’s true for most of us. In fact, I’m overflowing with questions and uncertainty; the older I get, and the more complicated the world reveals itself to be.

But I’m not troubled by this uncertainty. I just try to marinate in it, and find the healing and wholeness within it. These words try to capture some of that comfortable discomfort. I sent them to my friend Richard and he returned them as a song. (The moral of that story is, if you want to collaborate with someone, it works best if you find someone who can do 90% of the work. Thanks Richard.)

Teach Us to Discover

Teach Us to Discover
©2017 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing
United with ev’ry creature,
We thank you, Lover of the universe

Fill us with a reverent awe and respect
In wonder for ev’ry creature
We thank you, Lover of the universe

Magnolia, gorilla, beluga and dog,
We bless them all, ev’ry creature
We thank you, Lover of the universe

Bob, Eva, Loretta, Fredrique and Lavonne
Each one of us holy creatures
We thank you, Lover of the universe
We thank you, Lover of the universe

©2017 Worldmaking.net (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Use with permission please. Licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net

Pour Out Upon Us

Pour Out Upon Us
Song ©2017 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
Song Text: Pope Francis, © 2015 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

Pour out upon us
Pour out upon us
The power of your love

[prayer: “Pitcher of All Goodness” by Bret Hesla]

1. Pitcher of All Goodness,
Pour out upon us the power of humble service,
that we would seek to serve above seeking to gain.

Pour out upon us the power of discernment,
that we would notice where we’ve gone wrong
and adjust the way we speak, touch, email and text
in our desire for loving community.

Pour out upon us the power of togetherness,
that we would share public spaces as true neighbors.

Magnificent Pitcher of All Goodness, pour out upon us the power of your love.

2. Pour out upon us the power of slowing down,
that we would be renewed by the simple passing of time.

Pour out upon us the power of paying attention,
that we might allow moments of awe in small things,
and notice the fragile beauties trampled in our mad rush to save time.

Pour out upon us the power of humility,
that we would give up being in charge of our planet.

Universal Pitcher of All Goodness, pour out upon us the power of your love.

©2017 Worldmaking.net (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Use with permission please. Licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net.
Song Text: Pope Francis, © 2015 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

Help Us to Stand With

Help Us to Stand With
©2017 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan

Help us to stand with our abandoned and forgotten brothers and sisters.

Fill us with grace, oh
to claim one another
Fill us with grace to mend what is torn

Fill us with peace oh
to live as a family
Fill us with peace to mend what is torn

Fill us with strength oh
to struggle for justice
Fill us with strength to mend what is torn

©2017 Worldmaking.net (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Use with permission please. Licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net

God Make Me a Channel

God Make Me a Channel
©2017 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
God, make me a channel of your peace flowing from your river
God, make me a channel of your peace flowing from your river

Where there is hate, we plant love
Where there is hurt, forgiveness
Where there is doubt, we plant faith
and where despair, hopefulness.

God, make us a channel of your peace flowing from your river
God, make us a channel of your peace flowing from your river

©2017 Worldmaking.net (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Use with permission please. Licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net

For Justice, Love and Peace

For justice, love and peace,
Give us courage in our struggle

[Blessing: “Take Courage” by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan and Bret Hesla]

Friends, may God be in our arms as we work for justice,
In our hearts as we practice habits of kindness,
In our heads as we learn to take risks to make this planet a place of peace.
People of God, take courage!

Singers: Conie Borchart, Robin Nelson, Liza Johnson, Kathy Pino, Ray Makeever, Paul Andress, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, Bret Hesla
Guitar: Richard Bruxvoort Colligan

Words and music by Richard Bruxvort Colligan. ©2017 Worldmaking.net (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Use with permission please. Licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net

Brother Sister Creatures

Brother Sister Creatures

Huge and tiny beings,
Each one part of our family.
Hearing, smelling, seeing,
Each one part of our family.

[refrain]
Brother sister creatures of the ground,
Brother sister creatures of the sea,
Brother sister creatures of the air,
Oh I love my brother sister creatures.

Loud and quiet beings,
Each one part of our family.
Moving, touching, feeling,
Each one part of our family. (ref)

Bring Healing to Our Lives

[prayer: “Bring Many Healings” by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan]

1. Bring healing to our cities
where people gather and move, eat, drive and wait.
Architecture for businesses and housing, streets and sidewalks instilled with a grounding trust in our neighbors.

2. Bring healing to our politics:
Respectful conversation, careful listening to what’s beneath the words,
a generous allowing for differences in order to share life.

Bring healing to our neighborhoods.
Yards, alleys, work and play, families of all shapes and sizes.
Sharing space and time, giving always the benefit of the doubt.

3. Bring healing to our bodies:
Blood, skin, bone, chemistry and organs working together in harmony

Bring healing to our wild spaces:
habitats for those underground, on the surface, in the seas, in the air.
Spaces for oaks, for prairie grasses, for wetlands.

All the Water in the World

All the Water In The World.

1. All the water in the world, The water in the world
Pouring down from the heavens
All the water in the world, The water in the world
Pouring down from the sky
Let’s look up now and get our faces wet. Oh,
Let’s look up now and get our faces wet
With water, like love pouring down.
We’ll get our faces wet
With water, like love pouring down.

2. All the water in the world, The water in the world
Flowing free in the river
All the water in the world, the water in the world
Flowing free in the stream
Let’s step in now and get our pant legs wet. Oh,
Let’s step in now and get our pant legs wet.
With water, like love flowing free.
And [get our pant legs wet
With water, like love flowing free.

3. All the water in the world, the water in the world
Welling up in the ocean.
All the water in the world, the water in the world
Welling up in the sea.
Let’s stand close now and feel the pounding waves. Oh
Let’s stand close now and feel the pounding waves.
Of water, like love welling up.
And feel the pounding waves
Of water, like love welling up.

Words and music by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan and Bret Hesla. © 2017 Worldmaking.net(ASCAP). All rights reserved. Use with permission, please. Licensed via OneLicense.net, CCLI and Worldmaking.net. Contact: Richard@worldmaking.net