Peace/NonViolence

Our Saviour’s Rouser

Our Saviour’s Rouser
© 2019 Bret Hesla.

We are called, nurtured and sent
to celebrate the beauties of life.
Called, nurtured and sent
to serve, and share what God has provided.
We are called, nurtured and sent
to go do justice in this land.
We are L U T H E R A N S
making P E A C E.
All together! Halleluya! Amen!

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
Written on commission for Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, Minneapolis.
© 2019 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net, Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Recording:
Piano: Tom Witt; Flute: Ray Makeever;
Vocals: Rebekah Moir, Martha Schwen-Bardwell, Cathy Pino, Nate Crary, Paul Andress, Ray Makeever, Chris Tripolino, Bret Hesla

Notes: Our Saviour’s Rouser

This song was commissioned for the 150th Anniversary of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When I first met with the anniversary committee, I asked what they had in mind for the song they wanted. The first thing they said was, “our mission statement.” Now you might think, hmmm, mission statement, kind of dry. But not this one: “we are called nurtured and sent to celebrate, serve and do justice.” I got to thinking, what is a mission statement. It’s something we all rally around and whole-heartedly buy in to. Which made me think back to my high school fight song, except here we’re committed to nonviolence, so let’s call it a rouser. I think every group needs it’s own rouser. Schools already have them. Why not churches? Here’s ours.

By the way, if you want to sing this in your community, you don’t have to spell it “L-u-t-h-e-r-a-n-s”. We are M-E-T-H-O-D-I-S-Ts, or C-A-T-H-O-L-I-C-S, or M-E-N-N-O-N-I-T-Es, or U-N-I-T-A-R-I-A-Ns, or U-N-D-E-C-I-D-E-Ds, or P-R-E-S-B-Y-Ter-E-Ns, or C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-Ns, etc. No matter how you spell it, the sky’s the limit on peacemaking, justice and joy. Let’s all get on board.

ps. I managed to get another song out of this same mission statement, Loves Wide Embrace. Different flavor altogether–more of a straight-up hymn.

I Say Peace

I Say Peace
© 2019 Bret Hesla

I say “Peace”
when I see the cross.
That word somehow jumps out of my mouth.
I can’t explain it.
But when I see the cross
I say “Peace, Peace Peace.”
First I say “Peace.”
Then I say “Peace.”
And then it’s “Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace.”
I can’t explain it.
But when I see the cross
I say “Peace, Peace, Peace.”

I say “Thanks” when I see the sun ….

I say “Love” when I see you all ….

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
Written on commission for Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, Minneapolis.
© 2019 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net, Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Recording:
Piano: Tom Witt; Guitar: Tim Gustafson;
Vocals: Rebekah Moir, Martha Schwen-Bardwell, Cathy Pino, Nate Crary, Paul Andress, Ray Makeever, Chris Tripolino, Bret Hesla

This song was written on commission for my home congregation, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis. When I was gathering ideas for this commission series, one member of the congregation shared this story. “Every time my two-year-old son toddles into the church sanctuary and sees the cross, he says ‘Peace.'” It seemed like a great image for a song, and encapsulates something central to this congregation, deeply committed to taking collective action and making lifestyle decisions in line with peacemaking, justice and non-violence.

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

Not Without Peace

Not Without Peace

Not without peace
Can we stop polar ice disappearing.
Not without welcome for us all
Will our forests be strong
We can’t treat the land
With respect we don’t show for each other.
So we pray to be kind
As we work to rewild the world.
Let us pray to be kind
As we work to rewild the world.

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2017 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Licensed via OneLicense.net, Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

This lively song connects the healing the planet with our other efforts for justice. The song is part of a 2017 collection addressing ecology and climate justice, Singing Prayers for the Earth, by composers Bret Hesla and Richard Bruxvoort Colligan.

I like to use this song interspersed with readings, depending on the current context and situation.

“Peace, justice and the preservation of creation are three absolutely interconnected themes, which cannot be separated and treated individually.”

[Pope Francis, Laudato Si 2015]

“Four grave problems tempt us to despair in this world: climate change, massive inequality, militarism and money in politics. The good news is that the four are connected: when we act to repair any one of these problems, we create conditions that help resolve the others.”

[Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, Authentic Hope. Orbis Books, MaryKnoll, NY, 2012 ]

Fill Us With Peace

Fill Us With Peace

Fill us with peace. Fill us with peace.
That we may live as sisters and brothers,
Fill us with peace. Fill us with peace.
That we may live harming no one.

Song Text: Pope Francis, © 2015 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.
Adapted and set to music by Bret Hesla. © 2017 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please. Licensed via OneLicense.net, Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Teach this refrain to your community. Then try singing it interspersed with spoken readings/prayers. You can either bracket the longer readings with the refrain, or alternate every other, using shorter readings. The above recording is one example.

[Prayer: “May We Live Into Our Sisterhood” © 2017 Bret Hesla.]

May we live into our sisterhood with the air that we breath, a clearness whose carbon dioxide weaves the green blanket that enfolds us, a clearness whose oxygen fuels the moving creatures, a clearness whose winds blow to dry the clotheslines of rich and poor alike. May we live as if we are members of the same family with this breezy wispy sister of sacred invisibility. Fill us with the peace of this sisterhood

[sing]

May we live into our brotherhood with the seas that cover our planet, in whose waters life began 3 billion years ago, in whose waters live 90% of all living things, whose tides give our clocks meaning, whose salt give our food flavor, whose health we threaten with our garbage rafts. May we live as if we are members of the same family with this great blue brother of liquid holiness. Fill us with the peace of this brotherhood.

[sing]

May we live into our sisterhood with the tiny particles we cannot see, tiny particles whose chemistry helps plants capture the sun, tiny particles whose business runs deep within our bodies, tiny particles whose dignity does not depend on our knowing they exist. May we live as if we are members of the same family with this great gathering of unimagined tinyness. Fill us with the peace of this sisterhood.

[sing]

Fill us with all these deeply-rooted meanings of peace, Dear Mother, that we may better cooperate as you gather us every day into your one great family. Amen

Lords Prayer–adapted

LORD’S PRAYER
(adaptation by Bret Hesla)

Gracious Spirit,
Who loves us like a mother.
Whose realm is blooming among us now. And within.
We pray that your compassion guide us in every action.
Give us what we need for each day,
And help us to be satisfied with the miracle of that alone.
Forgiver, whose embrace brings us to wholeness without our asking,
May we reconcile ourselves to one another in humility.
And may we cancel the crushing debts that imprison our neighbors
So that communities of joy and health may flourish.
May we neither profit from nor ignore evil.
But ever work to thwart it with nonviolence
As we co-create the realm of peace in this world.
Now and each day.
Amen.

Based on the Lord’s Prayer. Adapted by Bret Hesla. © 2004. From Worship In The Spirit of Jesus: Theology Liturgy and Songs Without Violence © 2004 by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Bret Hesla. Wipf and Stock.

Now O Spirit

A pregnant and laboring earth …

Now, O Spirit
© 2005 Bret Hesla

1. Now, O Spirit, fill us with fire.
Your compassion be our desire.
Now, O Spirit, open our hands.
May we share as need demands.
Letting go of what is not ours,
True abundance ev’rywhere flowers.
Daily giving justice birth:
Dawn of peace, a laboring earth.

2. Now, O Spirit, giver of breath
Free us from consuming death.
May we throttle runaway “More,”
monkey wrench the gears of war.
Meet oppression face to face
We resist in nonviolent ways.
Daily giving justice birth:
Dawn of peace, a laboring earth.

3. Now, O Spirit, turn us aside
In our quiet moments confide.
Healing Womb, Enveloping Urn
We in you develop and learn.
In the night, your silence we hear.
By your calm we certainly steer.
Daily giving justice birth:
Dawn of peace, a laboring earth.

4. Pouring Spirit, Swig of Delight
Cup of Joy, all people unite.
Shine, O Sweet Expression of Grace.
Be revealed in ev’ry face.
Sharing food our spirits we blend;
Truths discovered in stranger and friend.
Daily giving justice birth:
Dawn of peace, a laboring earth.
——————————
It’s hard to write a song about non-violence, and non-violent resistance to oppression. It’s a hard word to sing, for one. And usually, writing about a negative concept is always less powerful that writing about a positive one. Hmmm. You hate to just talk around it poetically, especially when you’re hanging with someone like my friend Jack-Nelson-Pallmeyer. There’s a guy who does not beat around the bush.

Well, here’s an attempt at such a song from my collaboration with Jack. It fits in the framework of a larger service of songs and readings.

We Gather Longing

We gather longing, longing for peace.
We gather longing, longing for peace.
We gather longing, longing for peace,
And we know it’s good to be here.

Ch:
We are longing, longing
Longing, longing for peace.
We are longing, longing,
Longing, longing for peace.

2. We gather singing joyfully strong.

3. We gather dreaming what is to be.

4. We gather praying the heart of the world.

5. Weaving, mending the whole

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2004 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please
Licensed via OneLicense.net, Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com

I continue to attend church through the years. I often ask myself why, given the constant evolving of my spirituality, changes toward increasing plurality, all the curiosity and searching, my dislike of doctrine and dogma, my attempts to create meaning in community. This song is about that why.

See also the cousin of this song, Longing We Gather. I sometimes like to take the same starting text and try a few different tunes and structures.

In that spirit, I hope you feel free to do the same with this song, play around with it a little. It’s pretty flexible. Add some verses, adjust the repeats.

Worship In The Spirit of Jesus (book)

(2005 Book). Worship in the Spirit of Jesus: Theology, liturgy and songs without violence, by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Bret Hesla. Essays, songs, and liturgies that challenge the violence embedded in core of most Christian liturgies and hymns, and then imagine and invite songs and services that embody nonviolence. 221 pp. (Hard copy book: price includes shipping. Browse songs below.
We Gather Longing
Here In This Ordinary Place
Flower of Compassion #1
Come Lend Your Beauty To This Place
Make Us Mindful
Heart of Mercy
Open Invitation
Now, O Spirit
Little By Little
Give Us Our Daily Bread
Give Us Today
Flower of Compassion #2
Let All Hearts Unite
Let’s Leave Our Fears and Comforts Now
Listen
Turn My Heart To Peace
May We Awaken
O Compassion
O God You Will Show Us the Path Of Life (Dittberner)
Stream of Mercy Never Failing
We Shall Be Peace (Dittberner)
Web of Beauty
Where There Is Hatred
Yea, O God (Dittberner)
Dazzling Bouquet

Lords Prayer–Adapted by Bret Hesla

Make Me An Instrument

Text based on familiar prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.

Ch:
Make me an instrument of your peace.
O God, fill me with love.
Make me an instrument of your peace.
O God, make me an instrument of your peace.

1. Wherever there is hatred, let me sow love.
Wherever there is sorrow, let me sow joy.
Wherever there’s oppression, freedom let me sow.
O God, fill me with love.

2. May I seek to console, not to be consoled.
May I seek to pardon, not to be pardoned.
I seek to understand not to be understood.
O God, fill me with love.

Ch:
Hazme un instrumento de tu paz,
O Dios, dame tu_amor.
Hazme un instrumento de tu paz,
O Dios, hazme un instrumento de tu paz.

3. May I be mindful that all creatures are one
Sisters and brothers with the earth and the sun.
I pray release me from my need to be in charge.
O God, fill me with love.

Recording from the album Justice Like a Base of Stone. Text based on St. Francis of Assisi.

We Have Died

We Have Died

We have died to hatred.
To hatred we have died.
We are raised.
We are alive to peace.

We have died to indifference
To indifference we have died
We are raised.
We are alive to beauty

We have died to warring
To warring we have died
We are raised.
We are alive to healing

We have died to dominion
To dominion we have died
We are raised.
We are alive to belonging

Words and music by Bret Hesla. © 2002 Bret Hesla. Admin. Augsburg Fortress.
Also licensed via OneLicense.net. All rights reserved.
Use with permission, please. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Found in the songbook/CD Justice Like a Base of Stone, 2006.

We Share The Peace

We Share the Peace

1. We share the peace. We share the pain.
We share the drought. We share the rain.
We share the fancy and the plain
Beside the Welcome River of Life.

2. We bring our dreams. We bring our fears.
Our easy smiles. Our hidden tears.
We’ve found a place of comfort here
Beside the Welcome River of Life.

3. We who have crossed the oceans deep;
We who have swum the rivers wide;
We who have known this place alone
Now share the Welcome River of Life.

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
Written on commission for Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis, on their 50th Anniversary.
© 2011 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net, Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

I have a little office at Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis, the rent being a barter for music. So for their 50th anniversary, I got to write some songs for them. The congregation is quite near the Mississippi River, in the heart of the metro. I interviewed the anniversary committee and several members. Their strong themes were life-giving water, immigrant welcome, justice, peace, and gratitude.

This song tries to capture some of that deep community they embody as a congregation. The song’s been used as an offertory, a prayer response, in healing services, even a gathering song.

Blest Are Those

Blest Are Those
Bret Hesla. © 2011 bret.hesla@gmail.com

1. Blest are those who put trust in God.
They shall be like a tree.
Like a tree planted by the water
They shall never be moved.

2. In a world that’s splintered apart
Keeping many outside
Give us hearts welcome and including
Hearts to heal the divide

3. Homeless, wealthy, stranger, and friend
Fill the city, our home
May we now share of our abundance
Finding plenty for all

4. When we fear the peace that we seek
simply cannot come true,
We abide in our work for justice
Rooted deep in the stream

5. Here beside the river of faith
We now gather in joy.
Like a tree planted by the water
We shall never be moved.

————-

This was the theme verse for the 50^th anniversary celebration of Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis, and this song was written on commission for that event.Words and music by Bret Hesla.

© 2011 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Vision of Hope

Minnesota Community Sings benefit for Minnesotans United at Calvary Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis, Saturday evening February 18, 2012.

Vision of Hope

1. Why, you ask me, do we sing together
In the sweetness of a thousand voices
Butter melts, like a gladness, into the soul …
Why, you ask me, do we sing together.
In the glory of a thousand voices
there we find what we knew not had ever been lost

Ch: We sing a vision of hope
We sing a vision of peace
We sing a vision of joy
This irresistible life
This irresistible dream
This irresistible jewel
Oh, this vision of hope

2. Why, you ask me, do we sing together.
On the mountain of a thousand voices
We can say what alone we never could say…
Why, you ask me, do we sing together
In the rising of a thousand voices
Even those with their ears plugged must hear us now.

3. Why, you ask me, do we sing together
In the refuge of a thousand voices
Is a place where the wounded gather to heal …
Why, you ask me, do we sing together.
In the cradle of a thousand voices,
We are rocking the promise of beauty to come

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2010 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net, Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

This song is about the power of singing together. Right after the Haiti earthquake of 2010, amid all the devastation, the news was reporting that people were gathering in the streets at night and singing. In Estonia in the late 80s, hundreds of thousands gathered in public to sing in defiance of Soviet occupiers. In South Africa, the freedom songs helped fire the anti-apartheid movement. In this country, singing was a source of power and strength in the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s.

This song is about that singing. It’s also about our work to build a better world. I hope you can find a way to sing it with your communities. I think you’ll find, like me, a certain power that wells up inside you, just in the act of singing it. We sure need that power at this moment. Let’s rise up and make a different way forward!

This Night of Rejoicing

This Night of Rejoicing

This night of rejoicing is sweeping the gloom
from my gloomy soul
This night of rejoicing is weaving the room
into one great whole
Soprano and alto and tenor and bass
Blending to make a harmonious place

Ch: Oh, what a pleasure to be offline,
singing with you, my friends!
Oh, what a pleasure to be offline,
and may it never end.
Oh, what a pleasure to be offline.

This night of rejoicing goes perfectly well
with these trays of food.
This night of rejoicing leaves no place to dwell
for a gray cold mood
Download your worries and cares at the door
Upload your napkin with choc’lates galore (Ch)

This night of rejoicing is good for what ails
every weary heart
This night of rejoicing is waging a peace
in which all take part
Crammed on the couch with a songbook in hand
Open your mouth and indulge in what’s grand (Ch)

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2008 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Here’s to our annual solstice singing party in December. and its full throated joy!

When my grandma (my mom’s mom) was about 80, she moved into the senior apartment building in Sisseton, South Dakota. It was just a few blocks from her house. One of the first things she did was buy a a couple dozen copies of the Golden Book of Favorite Songs. She loved to sing, and wanted to sing with her friends and neighbors. After she died, most of us got a copy or two.

You can’t beat a singing party when you pass out songbooks. Or sing songs by heart.

Where There Is Hatred

Where There Is Hatred

1. Where there is hatred,
Where there is hatred,
Where there is hatred,
let me sow love.

O God, let me sow love.
O God, let me sow love.
O God, let me sow love.

Where there is hatred,
let me sow love.

2. Where there is sorrow, let me sow joy.

3. Where there’s oppression, let me sow freedom.

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 1999 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Based on the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.

Turn My Heart to Peace

Turn My Heart To Peace

1. Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright.
Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray to God my soul to keep.
Turn my heart, Turn my heart
Turn my heart to peace.

2. Silent night, holy night,
Wish I may, wish I might
Trust the words I claim to believe.
Learn to give as I have received.
Turn my heart, Turn my heart
Turn my heart to peace.

3. Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright.
Hear my prayer, God, hear my song.
As I wake with each new dawn,
Turn my heart, Turn my heart
Turn my heart to peace.

4. Silent night, holy night.
All is calm all is bright.
God who calls us to love our foes.
Help us heal this world of woes.
Turn my heart, Turn my heart
Turn my heart to peace.

5. Silent night, holy night.
God of love, all unite.
Change our fear to community.
Change our pride to equality.
Turn my heart, Turn my heart
Turn my heart to peace.

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 1990, 2006 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Peace prayer, evening song, whose lyrics also work to the tune of Silent Night, if you adjust the last two lines to be “Turn my heart to peace, Turn my heart to peace.”

Mercy We Abide

Mercy We Abide

Mercy we abide in you.
Stir in us, we pray.

1. In peace, may we assemble.
In peace, may we unite.
In peace, may we be whole.
Move within each heart.

2. For all who suffer in war.
For all who struggle for comfort
For all who slumber in ease.

3. We are broken, longing for peace
Forgiveness flow among us.
May we be reconciled.

Words and music by Bret Hesla. © 2003 Bret Hesla. Admin. Augsburg Fortress.
Also licensed via OneLicense.net. All rights reserved.
Use with permission, please. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

In a nutshell: Reconsidering the line “God have mercy.” Rather, as my friend Jack says, “God is mercy.”

To me, the old language in the time-honored liturgies I grew up with brings up the old images of God –white, male, powerful judge. I can’t separate them. Most of my songwriting work for churches involves a search for new language to sing, that describes what’s going on today, and offers expansive ways to understand the divine. In this song, I’ve tried to reimagine a Kyrie that uses new imagery for God. My intent is to lift up Jesus’ vision of God as a loving spirit (who ismercy), and let that vision play out in the cantor’s text.

During the cantor lines, the congregation also has a part to sing. It’s a dialog. If this back-and-forthh feels too busy, you can just have instruments play the congregation part. Or let a small group of singers do it for a few Sundays, after which the whole congregation will easily join in.

Longing We Gather

Longing We Gather

1. Longing, we gather longing.
Longing, we gather longing.
Longing, we gather longing.
We gather longing, longing for peace.

2. Singing, we gather singing … joyfully strong
3. Reaching … out to a hand
4. Weaving … mending the whole
5. Praying … the heart of the world
6. Dreaming … the world to be

Last verse: repeat v.1

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2006 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

Simple gathering song. Easy to teach with no printed paper. See also the cousin of this song, We Gather Longing. I sometimes like to take the same starting text and try a few different tunes and structures.

In that spirit, I hope you feel free to do the same with this song, play around with it a little. It’s pretty flexible. Add some verses, adjust the repeats.

I continue to attend church through the years. I often ask myself, why do we keep meeting like this. It’s easy to say what it’s not, it’s not the theology or the dogma. Something, rather, about the people, trying to make meaning together and participate in creating a better world, in finding healing in community. Anyway, this song is about that why.

Little By Little

Little By Little

Refrain:
Little by little by little.
Little by little by little.
Little by little by little, I know
The tiniest seeds will grow.

1. Growing in cracks and crevices (3x)
we are everywhere

2. Habits of peace and justice (3x)
tools to change the world

3. Never resorting to violence (3x)
we will find a way

4. Working with all of each other (3x)
we are not alone (Ch.)

5. The Spirit is present among us (3x)
we are filled with power

6. Rooted in the Water of Mercy (3x)
we will surely flower. (Ch.)

Words and music by Bret Hesla.
© 2003 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please.
Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

This song lifts up the fact that small steps lead to deep change. It is inspired by a book called: By Little and By Little: The selected writings of Dorothy Day., 1983. In the book she discusses active nonviolence, focusing on the small, ordinary acts and the ‘holy sublimity of the everyday’. This song was written as part of a collaboration with Jack Nelson Pallmeyer, who has written widely about the nonviolent vision of Jesus, who insisted that kingdom of god would be something ordinary and easily missed (yeast, small seeds), not dominating and all powerful. [see e.g.: Worship in the Spirit of Jesus: Theology Liturgy and Songs Without Violence, 2004.]

Song background and teaching tips

It feels good to sing about how we are the tiny weed-seeds that grow in the cracks and can’t be repressed. The weeds of peace and promise.

Churches have used this for a sending song. It’s also a favorite among very young children at several schools I know of. Kids really respond to this idea that daily habits of peace and justice can change the world. Depending on the verses, it works in faith-based or secular setting.

Note on the video: Why the dark room? This video took place at Calvary Lutheran in Minneapolis. About an hour before the Sunday service, a big storm knocked out the power. So what to do. The folks who showed up anyway met in a room with some natural light. As so often happens, the natural world knocks us out of our routines, and the group felt more at ease, and more connected, than usual.

Embolden My Heart

Written for the national gathering of the Baptist Peace Fellowship in 2012.

1. Without risk you can’t be open.
Without that you won’t build trust.
Without trust there’s no community uniting them and us.
Without unity what legacy will we be passing on
But a lonely type of safety some call “home”?

{ch}
O dear Desire of Peace, come embolden my heart.
Embolden my heart, to bloom into community.
O dear Desire of Peace, come embolden my heart;
embolden my heart to bloom.

2. Without risk there is no justice
Without justice there’s no peace
Without peace there is no hope and without hope there is no dream
Without dreams there’s no tomorrow. No tomorrow? What’s today
But a empty way to burn some time at home?

I Will Not Be Passive

I Will Not Be Passive!

[tune trad: John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt]

Some folks sit squarely on their hands
When trouble falls.
They politely turn aside,
And tightly shut their eyes,
And they hold their tongue instead of speaking out.
But I will not be passive!

————————–

Written for the Kids Peace Camp in Minneapolis, to the tune of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. The theme for the summer was peace heroes, heroes of nonviolence. They studied Ghandi, MLK, Dorothy Day, and others.

Shoulder Next to Shoulder

Shoulder Next to Shoulder

1. Down on the streets of Minneapolis
I remember marching with you
Carrying signs about peace in our time
along Hennepin Avenue

2. I saw some friends but mostly strangers
same old crowd mixed with the new
I saw my future congressman there
along Hennepin Avenue

Chorus:
I felt the sun on my face
I smelled the promise of spring
My legs were tired when we got downtown
and heard the bells of the Basilica ring

3. The signs were good, I think we’re winning
Passing drivers sang with us too
Gust said he saw only one flip us off
along Hennepin Avenue

4. Three-thousand strong came to the stoplight
“Red or green, we’re marching through”
Peace was arriving with_the right of way
along Hennepin Avenue

(Ch)
I felt the sun on my face
I smelled the promise of spring
My legs were tired when we got downtown
and heard the bells of the Basilica ring
I was so happy to be
Shoulder next to shoulder with you

5. Right by my side I had a shouter
Bellowing, angry and blue
I almost changed my mind about peace
along Hennepin Avenue

6. Down on the streets of Minneapolis
Next time maybe we’ll see you….

(Chorus)

Recording features this song paired with French Canadian fiddle tune Reel de L’enfant

In Minneapolis, the annual spring march to protest the US invasion of Iraq goes down Hennepin Avenue. I think it was at last year’s march that one guy was going around mock-scolding the marchers, “Look serious now, the peace movement is not supposed to be fun.” Point taken. We might as well enjoy each other along the way.

Standing On The Bridge

Standing on the Bridge

1. Something’s going on, better check it out
Cars going by all beep and shout
Must be the peace vigil ’cause I saw friends
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.

2. With the river below, we gather here on top
Every week working for the war to stop
And till it does we’ll be back again
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.

4. Got a few too many things to do
I’m all played out when the day is through
But I don’t rue the time I spend
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.

Bridge:
I saw Larry there, Mary there, Kim and Pat
A gray-haired vet with a “Dump Bush” hat
A couple of kids from Buffalo Ridge
And the McDonald sisters at the Lake Street Bridge

4. Here’s a big fact that’ll break your heart
When this wars done another starts
Yup, we know it’s a long haul we’re in
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.

5. When people get together to do what’s right
You never have seen such a lovely sight
The meeting’s set, and I’ll attend
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.
Bridge:

One guy never stopped crossing the road and back
With a sign saying “US OUT OF IRAQ”
A bus driver waved, and I thought “Wow,
We’re not the fringe we’re in the mainstream now.”

6. When I die scatter my ashes high
Over the river in the city sky
So I’ll be there when you feel the wind
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war

Extra:

There’s one thing none of us here can stand
An Oval Office with a macho man.
There’s work to do that’s why we’ve been
Standing on the bridge where Lake Street ends
Saying 1,2, 3 & 4
Be patriotic, resist the war.

What: weekly peace vigil, since 1999. Still running in 2024.

When: every Wednesday at 5 pm

Where: the Lake Street Bridge spanning the Mississippi river between Minneapolis and St. Paul.

It started in 1999, when a bunch of Minnesota peace organizations got together to protest the war in Yugoslavia. When that war ended, they kept going, shifting their focus to the inhumane sanctions against Iraq. Ten years later, it was about the Iraq occupation and the war in Afghanistan. The crimes against humanity keep recurring, in new forms. The vigil continues. Recorded with Linda Breitag.

What We Do (song)

(heads up: the singing starts at the 0:57 mark on the above recording)

What We Do

We know waters are in trouble
And skies are losing blue
We know what we did to start it
And how the problem grew
We know elegant solutions
Where old ways join with new
But what we “know” we don’t know
Till it’s what we do.

We know war is not the answer
And fear is no excuse
We know organized nonviolence
Can shape this world anew
We know how to nod and speak of
What we all know is true
But what we “know” we don’t know
Till it’s what we do.

Chorus:
As we know, so may we do
So may we do
As we know, so may we do

We know every one is welcome
And every heart is true
We know every shape is equal
Where privilege can’t intrude
We know we are one great family
And justice will shine through
But what we “know” we don’t know
Till it’s what we do.

The recording, with singer/fiddle player Linda Breitag, features the song (at 0.54) preceded by fiddle tune, Reel du Gaucher.

Peace, Peace

Peace, Peace

1. Peace, peace, the morning dew;
Ev’ry day it falls anew:
Bending low the knee-high grass.
Soaking all who wander past.
Peace perfumes the earth with spring.
Oh, what simple joy it brings!

2. Peace, peace, the call we heed
Shared abundance over greed.
Peace the plenty ‘mid the dearth.
Peace the heav’n upon the earth.
Peace that’s shining like the sun.
Would that all could live as one.

3. Peace, peace, the fearful prayer.
Peace that throngs the public square.
Peace that dares to face the power.
Peace the wail when bullets show’r.
Peace the pain we all must bear.
Peace the load we all must share.

4. Peace, peace, the careful plan,
On that firm foundation, stands.
Peace the awkward compromise.
Peace with those whom we despise.
Peace beyond our pure intent.
Peace the goal to which we bend.

5. Peace, peace, the hand of Christ
Healing what the sword has sliced
Peace the hand upending greed
Peace the hand to all in need
Peace the hand with skills to mend.
Peace the hand that we extend.

6. Peace, peace, the trail that winds;
Each new age must seek and find.
Born upon a movement’s thrill:
Peace the arc still unfulfilled.
Peace unmet our legacy.
Peace reborn our journey be.

————————-

7. Peace, peace, the gard’ner’s toil.
Peace the building of the soil.
Peace the placing of each seed.
Peace the eye that knows the weed.
Peace the neighbors sharing tools.
Peace the greens we gather new.

8. Peace, peace the vigil song
By the fact’ries making bombs.
Peace the guts to vote “no more”
When the flags are fanning war.
Peace the arc from age to age,
Born on risks we take each day.

9. Peace, peace, the quiet gaze.
Peace the lazy summer days.
Peace the resting damselfly.
Peace the swift who owns the sky.
Peace the song the willow played.
Peace to watch the moment fade.

Words and music by Bret Hesla. Written on commission for Faith Mennonite Church on their 50th Anniversary. © 2011 Bret Hesla. All rights reserved. Use with permission, please. Licensed via OneLicense.net. Contact: Bret.hesla@gmail.com.

This 2011 hymn was part of a cycle I wrote on commission for Faith Mennonite Church of Minneapolis, titled River of Gladness. As a historic peace church, the congregation was wanting at least one song that could serve as both a Sunday hymn and also be sung out in the wider community. The song captures the many faces of peace, from nonviolence to courage to protest to justice to gentleness.

Don’t sing all nine verses; choose three or four that lift up themes that fit the moment. If you sing it several weeks in a row, you could swap in some new verses each time. The repetition will give folks a good chance to learn the song.

I’ve included a simple SATB, roughly attempted on the above demo, so you can hear that. Works well with a small choir, or a singing congregation of course.

There is also a really nice piano score with a vibrant hymn-like feel to it, by Tom Witt (Thanks Tom!).