Tag: video
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Bless What Is Breaking
Some of the holiest moments I have experienced while hymn writing have been when I consider a deeply personal and painful experience and try to imagine how it might be of service to a singing congregation. In this case — just as with one of my earliest pieces, “I Know God Holds You” — the…
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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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Leaven Us with Holy Yeast
Count me among the many who found refuge in bread making during the first two years of the COVID pandemic. That experience, followed by a focus on yeast, seed, and bread-related scriptures during Lent 2023, led to this text. Thanks to Ben Brody for a wonderful tune! This simple, short song is designed to be…
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Be with Those Who Wander
This text was inspired by a beautiful, searching tune by Ben Brody. It takes the form of an intercessory prayer, raising the needs of many, then offering a reminder of God’s abiding presence and call. You can preview or purchase the piece here. It is also a part of my collection Elemental Joy. Here is…
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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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Jesus, Faithful Ancient Tree
A few years ago I preached an Easter sermon on fungus: the amazing underground networks that connect trees so that a whole forest can operate as one organism. The hub of that forest organism is sometimes called a mother tree, an elder that shares memory and resources with others. Research on this phenomenon has been…
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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…
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I Know God Holds You
My journey towards parenthood was not as difficult as it is for many, and it was still marked by grief and fear. Along the way I had two miscarriages, losses that were hard to grapple with. Few people knew about them. I had never been taught how to grieve them, or what to believe about…
Hannah C Brown 