Oh John Brown

Oh John Brown, John Brown,
what evil wind whispered through that wild mess of hair and beard?
What moved you through the dark of Kansas night
to murder and to kill?
What comforted you behind the barricades at Harper’s Ferry
as you waited for the inevitable?
What led you to break faith with Christian charity
and to embraces the seductive myth of noble violence?

John Brown, Oh John Brown,
your body may lie molding in the grave
but your zealous tradition marches on.
We’ll Christianize the Philippines, and pacify Vietnam,
liberate Latin America and democratize the Middle East
and we’ll wrap them all in your bloodied martyrs flag.

No greater love has any man than this
that he should take up broadswords, rifles, and pikes against his enemies.

Extol the Lord, Our God - A New Hymn From Psalm 99

I wouldn't want to compare myself to Charles Wesley or Fanny Crosby just yet, but I have been challenging myself to write new hymns (or at least new words for old hymn tunes) this year.

This week I am working with a hymn tune composed by a Salvation Army composer, Eric Ball.  The tune is entitled Pilgrim Song and was originally part of his larger suite The Pilgrim Way.  This new hymn is based upon Psalm 99

Extol the Lord our God, (Holy Is His Name)

Extol the Lord, our God;
holy is his name.
He sits enthroned upon
the cherubim.
The Lord is great in Zion,
exalted over all,
and we shall praise him there;
holy is his name.

Yahweh, our king, is strong,
holy is his name.
He has established justice
and equity.
Among his people he
established justice fair
bow low at his footstool;
holy is his name.

Moses and Aaron were
among his chosen,
the prophet, Samuel,
called upon his name.
They called upon the Lord
and he answered them from
the cloud of his presence;
holy is his name.

O God, you answered them,
you were forgiving
and yet you avenged sin;
holy is your name.
Exalt the Lord our God,
come to his holy hill
where we will worship him;
holy is his name.

You can listen to a wonderful recording of The Pilgrim Way here.  Just scroll down to MF 281 in the music player.  Actually that page has quite few of Eric Ball's recordings - music he composed, arranged, and/ or conducted.  If you are in the mood for Salvation Army / Brass Band music, you might just like to linger there for a while.

They Are Commercials, Not Tributes

I don’t care about professional sports.  Not interested.   But I did watch the Super Bowl last night.  Or, more accurately, I watched the Facebook to see what my friends across the country were saying as they  watched the game – and as they watched the commercials.

The commercials are a big part of why many watch this annual televised sporting event.  In my considered opinion they are the real reason the Super Bowl exists – as an excuse for commercials, advertising and corporate sponsors.  It’s not really about the game.  It’s about selling stuff. I care about commercials almost as much as I care about professional sports.  I have taught my kids the mantra, “Commercials are lies.” 

Many of my friends were offended or disgusted by the Go Daddy spot – in which Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli made out with a rather stereotyped computer nerd. This was certainly a toned down commercial from Go Daddy.  Their Super Bowl commercials in years past have pushed the sexy envelope pretty far… This one was tame by comparison.  Granted – it did play on shallow stereotypes, but I don’t understand my friend’s disgust over it.  It was awkward and uncomfortable – yes.  But that’s the intended  humor of the ad.   So why the disgust? Are we disgusted and offended by kissing?  By the nerdy guy getting the pretty girl?  I don’t get it.  

No.  I wasn’t offended or disgusted by that one – the one that most of my friends seemed to hate.  It was the two commercials that most of my FB friends seemed to love that bothered me the most:  Oprah Winfrey’s two minute spiel for Jeep, and Ram Truck’s use of Paul Harvey’s  “God made a farmer…”

Let me here and now declare unequivocally that I do not dislike Oprah Winfrey, American soldiers, Paul Harvey, God, or farmers.  I am not speaking against them.  I am not dismissing them.

What I don’t like is using them to sell stuff. It’s crass and it’s manipulative, and ugly.

One of my friends responded that she didn’t see it that way at all.  To her the Ram commercial “was a tribute to the hard working people who are always working to put food on our tables. Farmers are amazing people.”

And I agree. Farmers are amazing.  But that has nothing to do with trucks.  America values its soldiers, but that has nothing to do with Jeeps.  These are commercials, not tributes.  They are carefully and purposefully designed to sell things by linking our warm feelings to their products. 

Commercials are lies. Not tributes.

Powerpoint Slides for Everyone - 2013 - Week 7

Here it is. Here it is. This week's powepoint (or similar presentation program) background image.  I make a new one every week and post them here on my blog.  They are free for you to use in your projects at home, work, school, or church.  Use them however you like - I only ask that you share them freely and that you tell others that you found them here.

This particular image was made from a couple of frames from my most recent video project- Strong. Dark. Silence.  

Aragorn's Stunt Double