Category: The Body
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What Shall We Cry?
How do we live with faith and joy in a world that holds death and suffering? This problem has long troubled theologians but is not always honestly addressed by the church. I give thanks for those who have taken up the work of struggling with this issue today including Kate Bowler and my seminary classmate…
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Holy is the Refugee
In 2023 I was planning for a Lenten season focused on the body. I wanted to lift up the value of bodies that are often mistreated and undervalued in our world. The result is a kind of “beatitudes of the body”, a prayer for change and a reminder that human beings bear the image of…
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Let There Be Rest
This hymn began as an exploration of the commandment to rest and to ensure rest for the people, animals, and land around us. I was inspired by ongoing conversations about rest as an issue of justice including the work of Tricia Hersey, the “Nap Bishop,” who teaches that rest can be both resistance and reparation.…
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We Remember Hands that Tend
This song began with an interest in the woman who anointed Jesus before his death. While her action was shocking to some, Jesus says that she will be remembered for it. I then began to think of all the people who give compassionate care for human bodies, in birthing and dying, in youth and in…
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Love these Human Bodies
Our bodies are gifts of God, but cultural messages, practical challenges, aging, and loss can complicate our relationship with this holy gift. This text is a reminder to care for ourselves and one another. You can preview or purchase the text here. It can also be found in my collection Elemental Joy. It’s paired with…
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Praise God Who Lives within You
One of my favorite moments in scripture is when Mary of Nazareth rushes to her kinswoman Elizabeth and the two of them witness and affirm for one another the marvelous things that God is doing in their lives. I was startled to realize how few hymn texts there are to mark this momentous event. This…
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Give Me A Name
I first became interested in the many instances of renaming in the bible when I changed my last name to honor my grandmother’s ministry many years ago. This concept took on a new urgency when I attended a conference held by and for trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folks in January of 2023. I was surrounded…
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As We Are, We Are Yours
I have participated in many communities that try to welcome those on the margins of society or on the margins of the church. This is a beautiful sentiment, and it can also contribute to more “othering”. In the contexts that I experienced it was we, the white, the educated, the wealthy, the able-bodied, the cisgender: we embrace…
Hannah C Brown 