By the Waters of Luxury

By the waters of luxury
We sat and tried to sing again
Hung our harps on the traffic signs
Because the music would not come

In our capital captivity
Heated and cooled by central air
In an alien land that we made for ourselves
We tried to remember home

Did we really forget so soon
We were strangers in a foreign land
Sent as insurgents by the Prince of Peace
To work for Kingdom come

Were we seduced by the enemy
And taught to play in the oppressor’s band
And did the wrangling and the jangling drowned
The sound of the songs of home

Come you rich, now come and play
With a hallelujah, amen
Bellies full, now come and pray
With a hallelujah, amen

Wealth is yours to have and hold
With a hallelujah, amen
Bow before your cross of gold
With a hallelujah, amen

Jesus loves me this I know
With a hallelujah, amen
Middleclass bankbook tells me so
With a hallelujah, amen

Faith begets prosperity
With a hallelujah, amen
Have a little bit left for charity
With a hallelujah, amen

By the waters of luxury
We sat and tried to sing again
Hung our harps on the traffic signs
Because the music would not come

In our capital captivity
Heated and cooled by central air
In an alien land that we made for ourselves
We all but forgot our home…

~Ken Medema


'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

~Joseph Brackett, Jr.