Only We

Only We
Bret Hesla ©2012

1. We are your neighbors. We’re friends you have known.
We are your coworkers sharing your load.
We are the regular people you meet every day.
There is no they.

2. We are your roofers and we are your cooks.
We’re your accountants we balance your books.
We plow your highways and we haul your garbage away.
There is no they.

Refrain:
Only we, only we.
All of us living as we.
Only we, only we.
All of us living as we.

3. We are the students beside you in class.
We’re the computer geeks fixing your crash.
We are your teachers. We help you discover your way.
There is no they.

4. We are the authors who write what you read.
We are the farmers who raise what you need.
We are your fellow church members who join you to pray.
There is no they.

5. We are your children, your daughters your sons.
We are your cousins, your uncles your aunts.
We are your parents who’ve loved you through all of your days.
There is no they.

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2012 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Don’t You Think?

Don’t You Think?

1. Don’t you think we all deserve
to have the right to marry who we choose to love?
Come join us if you do.

[ch] Then when all of us,
All of us rise and push to make the state fair
We’ll make the state fair for us all.

2. Don’t you think we all deserve
to feel safe and be accepted as we are?
Come join us if you do.

3. Don’t you think it’s time to see
the other person as a version of yourself?
Come join us if you do.

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2012 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

A big thanks to the nonprofit United for All Families, and all the other people and groups that came together to help Minnesota defeat the marriage amendment, then pass a marriage equality law in August 2013. On the way to the June 2012 Pride parade a few months before, I heard a radio interview with Norman Lear, who talked about compassion and seeing the other person as simply another version of yourself.

https://youtu.be/Ess3Ap5q3tA

Dazzling Bouquet

Here’s a big fun dance all-sing celebrating the inclusive vision. Attention pride parade planners: that first line looks good on banners and T-shirts, too. Recording by Bread for the Journey, on Global Songs 2.

Refrain:
Mine is the church where everybody’s welcome.
I know it’s true ’cause I got through the door.
We are a dazzling bouquet of every kind of flower.
Jump in the vase, ’cause we’ve got space for more.

1. Come here, all you six foot gladiolas.
Come all you purple lilacs shining bright.
Come let us all bloom together in one garden:
A carnival of fragrance and delight. (Refrain)

2. We don’t simply tolerate each other.
We ask and tell, we don’t just turn away.
We give attention to every bud and blossom.
Let every face come grace the grand bouquet. (Refrain)

3. Our demons keep trying to divide us;
They document their lies to make them true.
Today we’re freed from our judging and excluding.
Just look around enjoy the lovely view. (Refrain)

Words and music by Bret Hesla. © 1995 Bret Hesla. Admin. Augsburg Fortress.
Also licensed via OneLicense.net. All rights reserved.
Use with permission, please. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Note: Originally published in the wonderful songbook, “Global Songs II.”

I wrote the song Dazzling Bouquet in 1995 to give welcoming churches a way to celebrate members who are gay lesbian bisexual and transgender. At the time, not many congregations were welcoming. The US military’s policy of muffled inclusion was, “don’t ask don’t tell”. I was part of a congregation that was welcoming but I thought we were mostly pretty subdued about it in the services.
Well, we wanted to ask and tell. I thought it would be nice to have the trumpets and full party welcome. A good dance groove seemed the best way to capture the wonderful joy we all feel when the inclusion gets wider. I hope you enjoy singing it together. And why not a little two-step in the center aisle?