I Ain’t Loving That Neighbor

There’s a problem with universalism, gonna tell you here pretty quick.

It’s a faith that kept the carrot but threw away the stick.

Don’t want to pledge to your church? Well, darling, that’s just fine.

God’s an indulgent mother—she nags but she really don’t mind.

 

They’ve got Ten Commandments, where God said, “Thou shalt not.”

We’ve got Seven Principles, or suggestions, likely as not.

If you don’t follow them exactly, well, it’s not really a sin,

And that good cause the ol’ #1 is the hardest thing that’s ever been.

 

It’s hard to love somebody packing a gun for instance

Although, in theory, I suppose I could love them from a distance

Confederate flag on their bumper, I confess that just about did it

Inherent worth and dignity my ass, they’re a certified idiot.

 

I want my neighbor to be the person beside me in the pew

Someone who looks and thinks pretty much like I do.

But that guy in the bright red MAGA hat? I won’t, I won’t, I won’t. 

I ain’t loving that neighbor unless I go to hell if I don’t. 

 

Now don’t get me started on ISIS, bunch of ignorant savages

Beheading all who disagree, leaving their country in ashes

And closer to home there’s Unite the Right and their twisted vision.  

I wish God would just nuke ’em all, send them to the hell that isn’t. 

 

It’s not hard to love somebody who rescues baby seals,

Recycles, flosses, saves the whales, shares my ideals.

But someone who listens to Fox News and retweets all of their lies

They’ve got precious little worth, inherent or otherwise.

 

I want my neighbor to be the person beside me in the pew

Someone who looks and thinks pretty much like I do.

But that guy waving a Nazi flag? I won’t, I won’t, I won’t. 

I ain’t loving that neighbor unless I go to hell if I don’t. 

 

Give me the grace to accept what I cannot change

And for what I need to change, a place to start.

Cause what you’re asking is pretty much impossible

I’ve gotta love these jerks out of the goodness of my heart?

 

I want my neighbor to be the person beside me in the pew

Someone who looks and thinks pretty much like I do.

But Uncle Biff and his butthead friends? I won’t, I won’t, I won’t. 

I ain’t loving that neighbor unless I go to hell if I don’t. 

Pig-headed fools who are clearly wrong? I promise you I won’t.

I ain’t not loving that neighbor unless I go to hell if I don’t.

Living in a No World

When I was a kid my parent’s first response was always no.

But I was a kid then

Asking for a pair of skates to jump off the roof or a chain saw to build a tree fort.

Did we somehow get infected with no? A disease without a vaccine?

Can anybody tell me how we got here, living in a me-first machine?

 

Living in a No world. Scratchin’ out life in a No world.

It’s a cold place, a dust and mold place, a happy world for none.

Living in a No world, existing in a No world.

Possibility just as well might be out there beyond the sun.

 

Can we show a little respect – NO!

Just a little bit of human kindness – NO!

*When a stranger’s at our border dying to get in,

Can we at least offer some water to drink? – HELL NO! 

 

/ / Can we just stop yelling at each other – NO! 

Can we back off the poison tweets? – NO!

Can we reach way down inside find inherent dignity and worth 

Even for the one who’s screaming at us? – HELL NO! 

 

Living in a No world, a not-a-trace of Yes world

It’s a stressful state, a distressful fate; you almost have to hate just to cope

Existing in endless strife Stuck inside a No life,

A shriveled-soul place, emotions-doled place, No is the death of hope

 

Can’t we give our kids a decent education – NO! 

Without their teachers buying their own supplies? NO!

Placing artificial limits on who needs special ed

So we can cut some more taxes for our fat cat cronies HELL NO! 

 

Any chance for a bit of peace on earth? A day without a car bomb going off?

Can I reach out to my enemy, see that he’s the same as me,

Can we agree to differ without going to war? Hell No. 

 

A cloud of negativity spreads over our land

Infecting all with its toxic touch

Spreading strife, discord, incivility

Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free

Remember those words? What the hell happened?

 

Living in a No world, Making do with a No world, 

Living with our doubt, seeing no way out, a hateful place delux.

Stuck inside a No life, rips your heart like a stone knife

Don’t know how we got here, but the truth, I fear,

Is that this place sucks.

I Want to Believe 

This is for the grandmother who walked on broken glass

A thousand miles in worn-out shoes to find that patch of grass

And take the seed she’d carried and plant it in the land

So her granddaughter could pluck the fruit, hold it in her hand.

 

This is for the man who worked all day to buy some food to eat

And then gave it to the shivering waif huddled in the street.

With all the cold and hungry, how much good did he do?

All the difference in the world to the child he gave it to.

 

This is for the possibility that guides us

For the possibility still waiting to sing.

Whatever song we’ve been singing, we need to sing it even more

For the world needs us more than ever before.

 

I want to believe that everything is possible

I don’t want to hang here at the end of my rope 

So even if your head, like mine is filled with doubt.

Come join your voice with mine in this simple song of hope.

 

This is for doubt becoming faith

For falling from grace and climbing back on

For keeping on despite all the shit we carry

And for that moment when we fin’ly let it go.

 

This is for no becoming yes.

This is for the flame that in you burns.

This is for all the times you’ll say I love you

To someone who will never say it in return.

 

This is for the possibility that guides us

For the possibility still waiting to sing.

Whatever song we’ve been singing, we need to sing it even more

For the world needs us more than ever before.

 

I want to believe that everything is possible

I don’t want to sit around, dither and mope 

So even if your head, like mine is filled with doubt.

Come join your voice with mine in this simple song of hope.

 

We’ll look for sunlight while hiding in the shadows

We’ll wait for flowers while standing in the rain.

We’ll look for miracles, knowing as we do

That miracles are the impossible coming true.

 

Oh, I do believe that everything is possible

With this hopelessness I will no longer cope.

So even if your head, like mine is filled with doubt.

Come join your voice with mine in this simple song of hope.

 

We’ll look for miracles, knowing as we do

That miracles are the impossible coming true.

Nothing Twice

My first-born had some serious colic, screamed like the whole night through.

Holding him, walking at three A.M., thinking man, I don’t have a clue.

First marriage ended way too quick, in the heat of an endless summer.

I didn’t know I had to grow with her after I’d wooed her and won her.

If I had a chance to live it all over, I’d do it better this time ‘round,

But if you don’t sing until every note is perfect, 

 you’ll fade without making a sound.

 

Life don’t come with instructions, God didn’t draw you a map.

You can’t just pull out your fancy phone and punch up a GPS app.

Nothing can ever happen twice, in consequence, the sorry fact is,

We arrive here improvised, and leave without a chance to practice.

 

And now that I’m older and wiser, my know-it-all attitude has softened.

Oh, I still manage to screw things up, just not quite as often.

But if I’d waited ‘til now to get started the past would have just passed me by,

Better grab on, even unprepared, than be empty-handed when you die.

 

Life don’t come with instructions, God didn’t draw you a map.

You can’t just pull out your fancy phone and punch up a GPS app.

Nothing can ever happen twice, in consequence, the sorry fact is,

We arrive here impro – vised, and leave without a chance to practice.

 

Even if you’re the world’s worst student, the planet’s biggest dunce

You can’t repeat the class in the summer, 

The course is only offered once.

 

Life don’t come with instructions, God didn’t draw you a map.

You can’t just pull out your fancy phone and punch up a GPS app.

Nothing can ever happen twice, in consequence, the sorry fact is,

We arrive here improvised, and leave without a chance to practice.

We arrive here improvised, and leave without a chance to practice.

Leave without a chance to practice.

This Song’s for You

Mama was a working girl, the youngest of three

Dreamed of becoming a teacher, dropped out pregnant with me.

Worked all day on her feet just to eke out a living,

Could have dried all up inside, instead she kept on giving.

 

Made me believe I was beautiful when I was skinny as a rail.

Drilled in me how powerful I was, even when she let me fail.

Taught me never to give up, when not to give in.

Gave me a place to sink my roots, a shove to spread my wings.

 

The world is starving for the givers, there’s more than we can ever do.

So for all those like my mama, this song’s for you.

 

This is for the women who taught me only women bleed with the moon.

This is for the men who cry, who bleed from women’s wounds.

This is for you when your fingers are red from clutching your heart

This is for the times you bleed with your friend

When her world is falling apart.

 

The world is bleeding for givers, there’s more than we can ever do.

So for those who bleed for the world, this song’s for you.

 

You carry a sign, you write a check, feed the hungry for a day

‘Cause the greatest joy in living is when you give yourself away.

 

For you when you give like every star is wishing on you

And for people who still wish on stars, this is for you too.

The world is starving for givers, there’s more than we can ever do.

So for those who light up the world: this song’s for you.

This song’s for you. This song’s for you.

I give this song to you.

Say Yes

I’ve been here too long, I’ve been asleep here in this no world. Got to

Wake up! Got to get free, Find my way out of this No place.

Got – ten way too easy just to go along with all who follow.

Wake up! Got to get free got to Wake up! Got to get out!

Stuck here in this No Place, got to get free such a cold place. Let me

Out this stinking prison trapped in-side these hopeless walls. Help me.

 

Help me

Stand Up to my Fears, I can stand up to my doubts, Help me

Stand up take a stand. I can stand up to my fears, Help me

Stand Up to my Fears, I can stand up to my doubts, Help me

stand up take a stand. I can stand up to my fears, can you

Help me!

 

Just Say yes, Say yes. Just Say yes, Say yes. 

Just Say yes, Say yes. Just Say yes, Say yes. 

Just Say yes, Say yes. Just Say yes, Say yes. 

Just Say yes, Say yes. Just Say yes, Say yes. 

 

When two violins are placed in a room

If a chord on one is struck, the other will play too.

If this is your definition of hope, this is for you.

The ones who know how powerful we are

Who know we can sound the music in the people around us

Simply by playing our own strings

 

Pull all your strings. Play every chord,

Never hush the percussion of your heart.

Play loud. Play like you know the clouds have left too many 

People cold and broken and you’re their last chance for sun.

Play like there’s no time for hoping brighter days will come

Play like the apocalypse is only 4…3…2

But you have a drum in your chest that could save us,

You have a song like a breath that could raise us.

Like the sunrise into a dark sky that cries to be blue

Play like you know we won’t survive if you don’t but we will if you do

 

Play like Saturn is on his knees

Proposing with all of his ten thousand rings that we give every single breath

This is for saying Yes.

Go Big or Go Home

This is for the day – we quit working for money

Walk away from our day jobs to the work we have to do.

This is for the first day of the coming revolution

Watch the mighty quail in fear as they feel our power grow.

The storm begins to swell as the hurricane begins

The trees bow down before us and the tide comes surging in

 

Go big or go home (make a difference in the world)

Go big or go home (you are the voice that matters)

Go big or go home (when we join together)

We can change the world. Go big or go home.

 

This is for the day – we don’t take it any more

Walk away from the nighttime – and step out into the stars

This is for the day – we stop rattling the cage

Flex the power in our hands – and rip apart the bars

The wind begins to howl. It becomes a mighty sound

The water starts to boil, and the walls come crashing down

 

Go big or go home (make a difference in the world)

Go big or go home (you are the voice that matters)

Go big or go home (when we join together)

We can change the world. Go big or go home.

 

We’re trading our silver platters in for something that matters

Like the gold that shines from our hands 

When we hold each other

Like turning our porch lights on to call the homeless home

And asking our enemies to dance because then we have a chance

 

Go big or go home (make a difference in the world)

Go big or go home (you are the voice that matters)

Go big or go home (when we join together)

We can change the world. Go big or go home.