"Healing at Wounded Knee"

Women, children, elders and men
Gunned down by the Seventh Cavalry
Slaughtered without human mercy
Generations scarred at Wounded Knee

No justice have your people seen
No remorse, nor apology
The killers have Medals of Honor
For the slaughter of Wounded Knee

The blood of the slain cries out there
From the ground stained mercilessly
The wounds carry on to this day
The legacy of death at Wounded Knee

Creator saw and wept from above
He created no one for such misery
He will bring healing in His love
Healing for the trauma of Wounded Knee

His tears for your people are great
He felt all of the pain at Calvary
There His blood was shed to redeem
The blood that was shed at Wounded Knee

One day He will ride on a white horse
Faithful and true, you shall see
Your slain shall rise from the grass
From the bloodstained grass of Wounded Knee

Wrapped in His blood that redeems
You will dance there free joyously
His justice will right all these wrongs
He shall redeem Wounded Knee

O for that Day to come soon!
O for the healing that will be!
O for that dance to begin
At the healing of Wounded Knee!

****

Art: "Phiyá"

Raising the Wrong Standard

"My people,

I know you love your brothers and sisters
and you want all of them to know Me
and to be saved for eternity.
I know you want to see My name honored
and lifted high in your land.

Because of this many of you have sought
to have your laws and political leaders
declare that I am the Lord of your nation.
You believe that doing so will bring blessings,
witness to Me, plant seeds of faith,
and will raise a powerful standard
against social and economic ills.
You believe that the proclamation
will work wonders even among
those who don't believe in Me.

My people, didn't I say that all people
would know My followers by My love?
Didn't I say that on the last day
many would call Me 'Lord'
but I would tell them, “I don't know you”
unless they did the will of My Father?

Why are you trying to bypass My love?
Why are you seeking a shortcut
around My teachings?
Shouldn't you be following the ways
that I taught you instead of seeking
to enact laws in the way of Constantine?
Have I commanded you to make
every tongue confess My name
and make every knee bow to Me?

There are no shortcuts, My people!
There is no other way but what
I have taught you in word and deed!
There is no greater way to witness
than to love one another as I commanded!

Do not try to bring 'revival' or My kingdom
with political authority and control!
Do not raise the standard of another 'Lord'
by using the ways of Constantine!"

*****

Art: "Other 'Ways'..."

"O Little Besieged Bethlehem "

O little town of Bethlehem
We sing of thee tonight
We give gifts to each other but
We care not for your plight
Far away from our comforts
Your people live in fears
Their lands taken and walled within
No one to wipe their tears

O little besieged Bethlehem
Your children can't be free
To sing in peace like we do now
Occupation they see
For walls are built around them
And settlers build new homes
Destroying olive trees and lives
And saying 'Israel owns'

O little besieged Bethlehem
Once born in you there was
A peacemaker the Messiah
Who heard the oppressed's cause
Yet today those who claim Him
Ignore your quiet cries
And ship money and weapons to
Help those who colonize

O little besieged Bethlehem
Tonight a remnant prays
For peace and justice as Christ taught
Remembering His ways
For He was also born in
Occupation and strife
And one day soon He will return
With justice, grace and life

*****

Art: "Born in Captivity"

"Carrying and Carried By My Heart"

"I am calling you
to share in My heart,
and to share My heart
when I lead you to.

This will be a blessing
to you and to many,
but at other times
it will be uncomfortable.

I am giving you My heart
for My broken people,
but many will not want
to see their brokenness.

I will be your place of refuge
when you feel alone
and need a shoulder to cry on.
I will carry you as I have carried you
since before you were born.

Carry My heart,
and My heart
will carry you."

*****

Art: "In the Same Way"

"Can You See Their Tears?"

"Can you see the tears
of the least of these—
My brothers and My sisters
suffering in your streets?

Can you hear their cries
without making excuse?
Can you recognize
the system of abuse?

Will you stand idly by
while they suffer the same?
Will you ignore their tears
and say they are to blame?

I hear their weeping voices
I hear their prayers to Me
When they cry for justice
When they long to be free

I stand with them through
their griefs that come like rain
I am He who shares
their suffering and pain

I will not hear excuse for
systemic injustices
I will not justify
those who give them distress

Arise, My people, and take
My yoke upon yourselves
Lift up the oppressed ones
And recognize their hells

Go spend yourselves upon
behalf of the oppressed
Go and be My disciples
And do not fail this test

For if you claim to be
followers of My Son
His cross you, too, must bear
His race you, too, must run

For one day He shall ask
if you came to His needs
when He was suffering
among you in your streets

O can you see Him now
in minorities and poor?
Can you hear Him calling
knocking upon your door?

He calls you to come forth
He calls your heart awake
For He will come and judge
with the measure you make

What measure would you wish
that He use upon you?
Will yours be like His own
merciful, just, and true?"

*****

Art: "O Say Can You See?"

"Can You Hear Me in Their Cries?"

"I am exposing the hearts of many
through the injustices in your streets;
I am setting before you a choice—
will you stand with the oppressed?

Many are shutting their ears
to the cries of the oppressed
and refusing to acknowledge
their painful experiences.

Many are demonizing the suffering
and justifying the use of violence
against those who cry out
about their mistreatment.

I am laying bare the hearts of many;
I am He who comes to you in the poor,
in the disadvantaged, in the marginalized,
and in the oppressed among you.

I am crucified again in your midst—
can you see Me?"

*****

Art: "I Can't Breathe!"

"Your Children Will Return"

"Did I not promise My people
that I would bring their children back?
Did I not promise that you
would wear them as ornaments?

Behold, I am awakening your children!
They will seek out their people;
they will seek out their elders;
they will write their tribes on their hands.

Be comforted you who have been downcast!
I will bring healing to your generations
and I will enlarge your family
that has been devastated.

I will create praises on the lips
of the mourners of your tribes,
and you will say to yourselves,
'Where have all of these come from?'

Your people will be restored;
your bereavement will end;
your children will song your songs,
and will praise Me in your languages.

Open wide your arms, My people!"

****

Art: "Inheritance"

"Do Not Forsake Discernment"

"My people,

Many of you have learned
to find Me outside of the
modern structures of 'church'
and have awakened to many truths
you did not learn there.

I have given you understanding
and have blessed you as you
sought to become free
from systems of bondage.

But many of you have become proud
of being outside of the places
in which you once worshiped Me.
Many of you have also become
excited about any 'truth' that
diverged from the mainstream beliefs.

Many of My people in mainstream churches
are taught to discern according
to the walls of their church structures,
but true discernment is not
found by simply pursuing what
those churches have rejected!

Many of you have become enamored
by rejecting doctrines that they
consider of foundational importance;
many of you have become enamored by the idea
that writings church councils rejected in the past
must have been suppressed because of their 'truth.'

Do not be seduced by the
appearance of hidden secrets!
Do not be carried away by believing
that just because something has been suppressed
it automatically means it contains truth!
Do not believe with cheap discernment!

Haven't I declared that I do not
despise My captive people?

Do not look down on those who worship Me
inside broken church systems!

Do not despise the truths of the
faith I have entrusted to My people
—including those in captivity—
since the beginning of the Church.

Do not be proud of 'being outside'
and so fail to love and intercede
for those who are still 'inside'—
for they are My beloved children
just as you yourselves are.

There is one Rock—My Son—
and even though there has been
much confusion and division
amongst My people who call on Me,
My Spirit has not forsaken My bride."

*****

Art: "Pride in Being Outside"