UMC General Conference      Photo by Deborah Austin

I’ve put together some songs for my UM sisters and brothers who are in pain, shock, grief, anger, and dismay after General Conference.  I’ve seen links you’ve posted to help you deal with the complex emotional impact of what we have witnessed this week.  Then I’ve posted some of my own.  These are not one-size-fits-all songs, but I hope that you’ll find something here to that suits the place where you find yourself.

These three posted by friends give a sample of the emotional roller coaster that progressives and centrists have been on this week.

Kathy Mattea’s Mercy Now , written by Mary Gauthier,  announces that  the church  could use “a little mercy now.”

Let off some steam by singing Jigsaw’s  Sky High  to General Conference:  Our love had wings to fly  / We could have touched the sky / You’ve blown it all sky high/

Hear the comfort from Norm Lewis singing Stephen Sondheim’s  No One Is Alone:  Someone is on your side / No one is alone.

So those are the links from some of you, and these are the ones sounding through my head:

Let It Fall by Over the Rhine:

When you’re down so low 
You feel the imprint of the ground
On skin
Look around 
Breathe in

Find comfort in Carrie Newcomer’s Sanctuary

Will you be my refuge
My haven in the storm,
Will you keep the embers warm
When my fire’s all but gone

And find courage in her You Can Do This Hard Thing.

Here are two songs that remind us of the struggle to honor the presence and the gifts of LGBTQIA people in our society and in our church.   I know that many of you have been immersed in Holly Near’s  Singing for Our Lives . (You won’t want to miss the PBS American Masters tonight celebrating Near’s life and work.)    You may not know Thea Hopkins’ Jesus on the Wire,  which she dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard.

When you’re feeling introspective, try Susan Werner’s Did Trouble Me , and when you’re angry, try her (Why Is Your) Heaven So Small?

I find in Noel Paul Stookey’s One and Many encouragement for an expansive vision of God’s love, one that we need at this time.

We live in the same house, on different floors
I got my window. and you got yours
We’ve each got a door that leads to the hall
But the rooms are so cozy and the door is so small

One FLAME; many candles
One SKY; many stars
One SEA; many rivers 
One LOVE…so many hearts

Be it so.

Please share songs that you are listening to.