by Dan Saunders

Reverence and Ridicule
by
Layah Jane

chorus:
says she
“you all must be
the change you wish to see”
if I talk my speak but my walk is weak
show me just how to be
the change I wish to see

I endeavour to shed light on blindness
speak my mind with patience and kindness
you know what I’m doing, I’m scoping for hope
there’s no better time to share how we cope
if it’s not our own Mama Earth’s timeline
we all have our own steady rate of decline
to use as a context for our worry
tell me, with one more day would you slow down or hurry?

chorus

give me a green, green valley and a clean, clean lake
a solar-powered homestead so I don’t take
more than my share, of what is there
I’ll make a ginger tea to soothe me
dance to music that moves me
it’s amazing just what can be found
when you stand bare-feet firmly planted on the ground
it’s crazy just what you feel
when you stop long enough to uncover what’s real
blessings and beauty abound
in this life on this planet so fertile and round

chorus

it’s a battle uphill on a slippery slope
when there’s no woman in this business who has not been groped
by the hand of the industry’s standard of disguise
we are curling our lashes, instead of seeing through lies
how cute do we look in our brand-name clothes?
is that what sells our records over how our music flows?
what do we activate, multiple, replicate?
are you taking care with your share?
are you waxing clever, or highlighting your hair?

chorus

you can keep your radio song
take the next one too when it comes along
crafting your chorus for top dollar
the burden of your choices pressing your collar
I wonder sometimes if I have it in me
the resilience it takes to not let it win me
is my skin too thin?
or has it grown thicker since I chose to begin
this journey of projection of sound
we make in a room when there is no one else around
if I cannot get where I want to go
without stepping on my sisters who also want to grow
then this is not for me
I’ll take my thin-skinned integrity
over pushing and shoving to win the
audience we so greedily seek
if all of us were listening, what would you speak?

chorus

if all those with mass distribution
were using their power for peaceful revolution
I would rest easy in my bed
I would drain all the worry from my weary head
but, no, in my own tiny corner of this place
I am working to define my own little space
if I cause someone to feel a little deeper
walk on the path that’s just a little bit steeper
perhaps I have done what I can
maybe my mission went as planned…

what do you have at the end of your day?
are you loving as wide as you can in your way?
what would you scrawl down, what would you say
if I
hit
play?

co-written by Layah Jane & Oliver Johnson
http://www.layahjane.com

see it full-size, print it, and make your own at
http://wordle.net/gallery/beatitudes

-edit- a year later, a few more people have had the same idea:

there are lots of biblical wordle art pieces, here are just a few examples:
The_Gospel_According_to_Matthew
The_Gospel_According_to_Mark_(ESV)
The_Gospel_According_to_Mark_(ESV)
Gospel_of_Luke
The_Gospel_According_to_John
Gospel_according_to_John_(NIV)

Ephesians_(NIV)

If you do make one of your own, post the link in a comment here.

it was a peaceful protest, until someone shouted at someone else for some reason
suddenly the street was full of riot police – hundreds of them appeared, as if they had popped up from the ground. everybody was scared, everybody ran. all of a sudden the street was empty. my friend cowered in a doorway with a few others.
and then a man appeared, on roller skates, wearing a Nixon mask and a dressing gown and nothing else, and he skated down the street flashing. the tension was broken. everybody laughed. people returned to the street. the protest continued.

there are moments when a tiny minority (even one person) if prepared and willing and brave enough to do the unthinkable, can restore hope and joy to a situation where there was only violence and fear. let us be prepared. let us be willing. let us be brave.

i don’t even own a dressing gown ??

the news story:
Sydney aid worker Darren Stratti was trying to protect five women from robbers trying to get into their mud hut when a bullet fired through the brittle wall struck and killed him in Tanzania, his colleagues and brothers say.
Mr Stratti, 36, from the Australian non-profit organisation foodwatershelter, was shot dead on Monday at Kesho Leo, a village the charity was building in the east African nation.

the love story:
A week later I get a phone call and just this really sexy, calm, confident voice comes on the phone and that was Darren and he asked me out. We had this awesome night where he just asked me everything about myself and everything about Africa. He later told me that he fell in love twice that night. First with me, and then with the plan for Africa.

the project:
http://foodwatershelter.org.au/

I believe that being poor, and ignored and weak, and sick and tired and broken and messed up and kicked around is not as spiritually dangerous as being self-satisfied and clever and well-clothed and well-fed and degreed and creed-ed and important.

from Joe at a life reviewed

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

Blessed are the meek,

Blessed are the merciful,

Blessed are you who thirst for justice,

Blessed are you who are persecuted,

Blessed are the peacemakers.”

And Simon Peter said, “Do we have to write this stuff down?”

And Philip said, “Will this be on the test?”

And Andrew said, “John the Baptist’s disciples don’t have to
learn this stuff.”

And Matthew said, “Huh?”

And Judas said, “When am I ever going to use this in real
life?”

Then one of the Pharisees, an expert in law said, “I don’t
see any of this in the syllabus. Do you have a lesson plan?
Is there an activity for each of the seven intelligences?
Where is the study guide? Will there be any authentic
assessment? Will remediation and extra credit be provided for
those who did not meet class requirements so they can still
pass? Will this be on the test?”

And Thomas, who had missed the sermon, came to Jesus
privately and said, “Did we do anything important today?”

“actions speak louder than words”
ruckus.org

You can listen to more of Dave’s songs (or download the words and music) here.