Singing for our supper
This day in April our favorite Uncle
taxes our patience and our reserves.
But when we itemize all our blessings,
we can’t deny him what he deserves.
With all our cousins throughout the country,
we pass our Uncle’s star-spangled hat.
This is an offering funding our freedom
envied in Cuba and in Iraq.
So on this Tax Day, we sing his praises
thanking our Father for Uncle Sam.
Even in lean times, we are most wealthy.
Nieces and nephews… A-mer-icans.
tune: Morning Has Broken
New words to a familiar Thanksgiving hymn tune;
A Thankless Thanksgiving in the White House
Late Is My Gratefulness
New words to a familiar Thanksgiving hymn tune
Late is my gratefulness, O God my Father.
I’m tardy thanking You for what You’ve done.
Daily You’ve given me countless reminders
of Your great faithfulness, Most Faithful One.
Refrain:
Late is my gratefulness. Late is my gratefulness.
Forgive my tardiness honoring You.
I’ve been remiss in recalling Your goodness.
Your steadfast mercies, Lord, are ever new.
Late is my gratefulness, O God my Father.
I have been careless extolling Your care.
Daytime or nightime, Your grace like a blanket
covers me gently. Your love’s everywhere. (Refrain)
Late is my gratefulness, O God my Father.
I’ve no excuse for my ingratitude.
I beg forgiveness for failing to praise You.
Great is Your faithfulness in all You do. (Refrain)
*The above lyrics can be sung to the tune for “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”
A Thankless Thanksgiving in the White House
A less-than-memorable holiday for the First Family
No turkey in the White House.
George dined on lame duck fare.
He had no choice. His goose was cooked
by critics everywhere.
But lame duck can be tasty
if basted in Old Crow.
A bourbon brine can cover up
what goes down oh so slow.
And while my wife baked pumpkin torte
(I cannot tell a lie),
the White House chef served thankless George
a slice of humble pie.
A hymn for Mother’s Day;
Baby Talk
With Gratitude for Mother-like Love
A hymn for Mothers’ Day
Our Father God, we thank You for our mothers
who cradled us when we were small and weak.
Then as we grew, they clothed us with compassion.
They coaxed first steps and coached us how to speak.
Protecting us from “monsters in our closets,”
they sang us lullabies to help us sleep.
Our Father God, we thank You for our mothers
who cooked our meals and baked our birthday cakes.
Who read us stories, helped us with our homework,
becoming nurses when our bodies ached.
They put our wants before the things they needed,
consoling us when lovesick hearts would break.
Our Father God, You are just like a mother.
With caring arms you slake our thirst for love.
You pick us up when failures leave us fallen.
You hold us close when bullies push and shove.
You wipe away the tears that stain our faces.
You are the perfect parent we dream of.
Our Father God, there is no other mother
who can compare with all the love You give.
Your mother’s heart envelopes us as children.
Your grace and mercy give us strength to live.
With tenderness, You welcome our confession
and give assurance that You do forgive.
Baby Talk
Candid questions for a newborn.
Do you know the world you’ve entered
is a planet scarred by war?
Do you have the slightest notion
how much blood’s been spilled before?
Precious one, would it surprise you
if I told you what’s ahead
will be difficult and lonely,
marked by pain until your dead?
Nonetheless my little child,
will you trust me when I say
that it’s worth the grief you’ll suffer
to embrace what comes your way?
Will you comprehend your trials
only come to make you strong?
Will you seek to do the right thing
but then learn from times you’re wrong?
As you sleep upon my shoulder
what sweet dreams now fill your mind?
Are you dreaming of the fun we’ll
have when you are eight or nine?
Can you picture playing baseball,
soccer games or ballet tights?
In your dreams are you just average
or (unlike me) very bright?
What’s the path you’ll one day journey?
To which jobs will you be drawn?
As you think about tomorrow,
what life goals will turn you on?
Can you feel me stroke your fingers
and plant kisses on your cheek?
Do you hear the Father’s whispers
in the gentle words I speak?
Will I live to see your children?
Will you love me when I’m old.
Could it be there’ll come a day when
you and I will reverse roles?
Who’s to say my precious bundle?
Who can tell what years will bring?
But for now my little darling
will you listen as I sing?
“My child you’re cherished. Relax in my arms.
I pledge to protect you from danger and harm.
I’m awed by the wonder of your tiny frame
and wowed by the privilege to give you my name.”
(The last four lines of this poem can be sung as a lullaby
to the tune of “Away in a Manger”)
A musical prayer of confession
O little town of Where-We-Live
you surely know the score.
We give to those who give to us
and overlook the poor.
The homeless and the widows
don’t have much Christmas cheer.
How can they when they live without
the basics through the year?
But we who live with all we need
take all of it in stride.
The holidays are good to us.
We rarely are denied.
We bake our Christmas cookies
and gather with our friends.
A concert here, a party there
and then the season ends.
But somehow something’s missing
in spite of what we do.
If honest, we’re quite empty
and joys it seems are few.
We end each year resolving
to break with old routines
and yet come next December
we’re like we’ve always been.
This Christmas may God give us eyes
to see what makes Him cry.
And hearts to feel the pain he knows
when plans for justice die.
As shepherds left their livestock
we’re called to leave our flock
to seek the place where Christ is found
uptown or down the block.
* These lyrics can be sung to the tune of O Little Town of Bethlehem
A hymn of hope for days of despair
God remains our source of courage
when we’re traumatized by terror.
When we’re haunted by the headlines
and the violence everywhere.
Hear God whisper in the silence
“Don’t despair, I’m in control.
Hurting hearts and broken cities
will at last one day be whole.”
God can feel the pain of suffering
when grenades and bombs explode.
When a dad is taken hostage
at a checkpoint on a road.
Then God whispers in the silence
“Justice will in time be done.
I will stand with those who need me
‘til my Kingdom fully comes.”
God invites us to be trusting
when we find that faith is hard.
When we’re fearful for our safety
and our nerves are frayed or jarred.
Still God whispers in the silence
“Even when your faith is weak,
I will keep your feet from stumbling
when your way is dark and bleak.”
My Rhymes and Reasons 