After My Own Heart

Cool Water (I am a little thing too)

2011-12-20T23:24:00.001-05:00

A little thing I discovered on my recorder having forgotten about it. Recorded in the moment of inspiration.

Cool water, flowing water
circling round the earth
Billions of little things live in you
and I am a little thing too

Words and music by James Hilden-Minton

Cool Water (I am a little thing too) by James Hilden-Minton

Holy Thirst

2011-12-20T23:07:00.002-05:00

O holy thirst, o holy thirst
Quench not the hunger of my soul.

Foxes have holes and birds have nests,
But the son of man has no place to lay his head

O holy thirst, o holy thirst
Quench not the hunger of my soul

Out of your innermost being will flow
rivers of living water

O holy thirst, o holy thirst
Quench not the hunger of my soul

Holy Thirst by James Hilden-Minton

SoundCloud

2011-12-20T23:03:00.000-05:00

I have begun posting new music to SoundCloud. Check out my page at http://soundcloud.com/james-hilden-minton. My aim is to post short recordings as I develop new songs. Feedback is always much appreciate. Just knowing someone took the time to listen means a lot to me.

New Video: Come, Little Baby Jesus

2011-12-06T07:44:00.002-05:00

Not a song, but a lamentation for this season

2011-12-03T18:23:00.000-05:00

My soul is too much Babylon
Weep o prophets of Israel
My soul is too much Babylon
Beneath the eye of Yahweh I drown
My soul is too much Babylon
I would walk, I would run, but
My soul is too much Babylon
So come o Righteous One
Judge me, crush me
Set my soul in Zion

for UriYah Israel, who always reminds me that Babylon has been judged and will come to an end

Come, Little Baby Jesus

2011-12-01T20:58:00.000-05:00

I've put the sheet music and a simple computer generated mp3 online. See links below. Sorry no voice recording though. Thanks all for your encouraging words.

http://www.mindspring.com/~jamesandrew/ContemplativeSongs/Come%20little%20baby%20Jesus.mp3

http://www.mindspring.com/~jamesandrew/ContemplativeSongs/Come%20little%20baby%20Jesus.pdf

A new song for Christmas Eve

2011-11-29T21:41:00.003-05:00

A few days ago, Zoe wanted me to write a song with her "on the computer". At the piano, we started to talk about what sort of song she wanted to write. She wanted a song about Christ and baby Jesus. We thought of a few ideas, and Kira joined us. We continued to discuss different perspectives of people in the story and tried out a few musical notions. What unfolded over the next few days is the following text.

Come, Little Baby Jesus

Come, little baby Jesus
I can't wait to see you
We have traveled far to Bethlehem
Will you come this evening?

"We have no room for strangers"
so the people tell us
But the animals will welcome you
in their humble station

The sheep and goats stand near you
in the cold of winter
They will share their grain and straw with you
rest you in the manger

The light that shines about you
gentle as a candle
sets to flight the darkness of the night
when our eyes behold you

Your mouth so small is breathing
now our ears can hear you
What the prophets sought so long to hold
infant hands are clutching

Come, little baby Jesus
I can't wait to see you
We have traveled far to Bethlehem
Will you come this evening?

by Zoe, Kira and James Hilden-Minton

Come Little Baby Jesus by James Hilden-Minton

an advent song

2011-11-21T10:29:00.001-05:00

truth, truth, your word o lord is truth
i will wait for you
truth, truth, your word o lord is truth
i will wait for you

speak my lord, into my hidden darkness
speak my lord, when I cannot find my way
speak my lord, ignite a new horizon
i will wait for you

truth, truth, your word o lord is truth
i will wait for you
truth, truth, your word o lord is truth
i will wait for you

i will cry, i breathe a new horizon
i will cry, i will be for you the way
i will cry, and fill your heart with gladness
i will wait with you

truth, truth, now i see a truth
i will wait with you
truth, truth, now i see a truth
i will wait with you

Truth, truth by James Hilden-Minton

Mechizedek feeds Abraham's troops

2011-11-09T09:34:00.001-05:00

Come, O Priest Melchizedek
Bring your wine and bring your bread
Bind our wounds with healing oil
Restore us from the battle

Melchizedek (You have saved the good wine for last) by James Hilden-Minton

the economy and Jooble

2011-10-03T13:28:00.000-04:00

It's been some time since I've posted. Strangely my thinking has wandered from matters of faith to economics. From God to mammon, or from prophets to profits, if you will. In fact, I am contemplating starting a whole new blog to reflect on economic issues, financing and investing.

The truth is we need each other, and currency--for what it's worth--is one of the ways we engage each other. I need workers in the field to grow my food. I need my dentist to drill my teeth. I need my daughter's school to educate her. I need someone to manage the money that makes my mortgage possible. I need countless workers across the globe to manufacture the clothes I wear. I need someone to haul away the trash of things I no longer need. At every turn, I need someone, and they need me. Money passes from me to you, and from you to me. This is called, economy.

I recently was approached by someone promoting a online job listing service, and he asked me if I would put a link in my blog to the Jooble website. Because he asked, I said I would, and my prayer is that someone who reads my blog might find a new job.

Here's the link: jooble-us.com

May all find meaningful and rewarding work. And may all participate with confidence in this mixed up economy.

Disclosure: I am not compensated by nor am I invested in Jooble. I own shares of Waste Management (WM)--somebody's got to haul the trash, recycle it and turn it into gas and electricity.

Preparation for Pentecost, a song

2011-05-10T21:36:00.000-04:00

Break up the ground
break up the ground
break up the ground
Open your heart to love again
Careful, the seed within

Messianic hope

2011-05-10T01:40:00.000-04:00

To be a people after God's own heart, this is messianic hope and its true fulfillment. To abide with the Holy One in the midst of the camp, this is the journey to the promised land and its eternal possession. To greet the stranger with loving-kindness and to rest justly on the sabbath, this is the repair of the walls of Jerusalem and the light of lamps in the temple.

Did the Temple make Jerusalem invulnerable to disaster? No, but the people learned the worth of sabbath in exile. Did Moses enter the promised land? No, but he beheld Yahweh in the midst of the people. Did David take the crown by force? No, but he found shelter in the Most High. Did he conquer his own weakness? No, but he wept for his sin and danced with might and joy before the Lord.

So do not wait for a new prophet to arise, a high priest or a king, only be now the royal, priestly and prophetic people God has put it in your heart to be.

Peace be upon Israel through whom may all people be blessed. Shalom.

A Song for Pentecost

2011-05-03T20:15:00.000-04:00

Come, Spirit, come
Breathe upon our heart
Ignite a fire in us
Clear away the dross
Illumine our mind
Lord, make a way for holiness

how the stone began to roll

2011-04-24T05:27:00.001-04:00

Once again the Holy Spirit moved within the hearts of the prophets--billions upon billions of them, more numerous than the stars of night, the faithful of every age, the righteous of every land, the children of every race, tribe and tongue--all these began to shout together one endless word, "Rise up, Jesus of Nazareth!" This is how the stone began to roll.

Wake up, children of Israel! Rise and prophesy. Say to the dead, "Wake up, children of earth! Your father calls you forth."

the will of the father

2011-04-24T05:26:00.002-04:00

In the grave, we are powerless to do our own will, much less the will of God, but in the prayer, "Your will be done," there is all the power of resurrection.

grandmother parable

2011-04-23T19:34:00.000-04:00

God is like a grndmother who delights to see the world anew through the eyes of her grandchild.

emptiness of god

2011-04-22T14:01:00.000-04:00

Jesus reveals the humility of god. Jesus reveals the vulnerability of god. Jesus reveals the humanity of god. It is not in the greatness of God that we come to know anything of god. Rather it is the emptiness of god that opens for us a way. The emptiness of god touches the emptiness of our humanity. In emptiness there is no obstruction.

humility of god

2011-04-21T23:37:00.000-04:00

If we knew the humility of God, we would be utterly transformed. It is he who shapes us in dust and breathes the breath of life in us. When his tears anoint our eyes, we will see as he sees. The beauty of creation is all holy and complete in his eye.

May the bread of affliction become bread of wholeness. Shalom.

Consoling Judas

2011-04-21T22:54:00.000-04:00

You betray me with a kiss, but I will not suffer you to be lost. My kiss will find you again.

Two Sisters--a parable

2011-04-19T23:43:00.000-04:00

A father had two daughters. One had known her lover, but forgot who he was. The other waited until she was too old. Concerning this, the two sisters bickered constantly. The father did not know what to do with either one. Blessed is the daughter who holds her beloved fast.

This year in Jerusalem

2011-04-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

You say, next time in Jerusalem. But I say, you are Moshiach! You are all Moshiach, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Do not say, "I am small." You are the prophet of the Most High. Do not put it off, not another year. All my people, you are my anointed ones. You are my Moshiach Now. Live it. Believe it. Be it. Shalom to all!

pray for me

2011-04-19T21:45:00.005-04:00

I will remember you in my prayers
What a load of pious pretense
as if my prayers amount to a whole pile of shit
I cannot even see you in the delusion of myself
--no--
I will not remember you in my useless prayers
but trapped within my own dark places
I will remember you when I resent a godless night sky
when the stupid stars twinkle for no reason
I will remember you when I cringe at what a fool I made of myself
when I am so disgusted with myself I want to vomit
when every remembrance is defilement
I will remember you when pain lashes at my wrists and I just want to be left alone
I will remember you when all I can do is sudoku
when I keep myself busy with mindless things
when I dare not close my eyes
I will remember you when I am nowhere
when I feel nothing, when I am nothing
I walk in a haze, groundless, confused
I will remember you, forgetting who I am, what I am,
when I am empty
--calm--
with nothing left to say
I remember you in all my prayers
(you are not alone)

The Sanctity of Judas Iscariot

2011-04-17T17:36:00.000-04:00

This morning, Palm Sunday, we read again the story of the betrayal of Jesus. I was struck by this line regarding Judas Iscariot, "and he went out and hanged himself." (Matt. 27:5b) And I listened to how he was called a murder and remembered how the church has despised him over the centuries. He has been held most accursed and surely one destined to be lost for all eternity.

I also shuddered as the reading progresses to the scene before Pilate, where the crowd demands the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate even gives them the choice to pardon Jesus Christ or Jesus Barabbas, which means "son of the father. The crowd demands that Barabbas be set free and Christ crucified. Pilate washes his hands of the matter. "Then the people as a whole answered, 'His blood be upon us and our children!'" (Matt. 27:25) I felt ill to hear this with full knowledge that the church has down through the ages, even in modern times, killed and tortured millions of Jews as "Christ killers." Pious Christians have been moved by this scene countless times to vent God's wrath on their Jewish neighbors.

But how does Judas' betrayal work into God's plan? Jesus knowingly called Judas his disciple. Jesus understood and taught that the Son of Man must be handed over. At the last supper, Jesus identifies Judas as the one who would betray him and and curses him, saying, "The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to the one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born." (Matt. 26.24) At Gethsemane just before his arrest, Jesus throws himself and prays, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want, but what you want." (Matt. 26:39) With a second prayer, Jesus consents to the will of his Father when he says, "Your will be done." So it is that Jesus accepts that Judas' betrayal is part of the Father's plan.

Is Judas's role an essential or necessary part of God's plan or an unfortunate mistake? Presumably Jesus could have simply handed himself over and saved Judas from so grievous an error. Why would Jesus not save Judas? Why would Jesus curse him for something within his power to avoid? All he would have needed to do is say to Judas, "I know what you are going to do. I forgive you and will hand myself in in your stead so that you can be with me in my kingdom."

This does not add up for me. It could not have been an accident. Otherwise, Jesus simply failed to be a savior for one of his disciples. Heaven forbid that Jesus should be such an unreliable savior! Rather, Judas's action must have been what the Father had willed for him.

Could it be that the burden placed upon Judas has some redemptive purpose? His soul was condemned to hell, for what? Is there any atoning meaning to this? I believe there is.

Leviticus 16 provides the directives by which the High Priest was to make atonement for the sins of the people. It the biblical template for atonement sacrifice. It clearly prescribes that their be two, not one, male goats presented for atonement. By lots one would be selected for the Lord and the other for Azazel, the wilderness. The one for the Lord would be sacrificed for atonement. The High Priest would then take the other goat by both hands and lay the blood of the first upon it. This blood represented all the sins of the people. Then it would be taken into the wilderness and set free. The purpose of the scapegoat was to bear the sin of the people and carry it away into the wilderness.

If Jesus was the atonement sacrifice, who was the other goat? Could it be that Judas was asked to bear willingly this burden upon his soul? Clearly the church has cast its scorn upon Judas Iscariot. Is he our scapegoat. Clearly this was for him an unbearable burden, whether he played his role willingly or not. Upon handing Jesus over to the temple authorities, he wanted no part in the blood money that was put upon him. He trued to hand it back to the priests, but they would not take it. This blood was his alone to bear."He said, 'I have sinned by betraying this innocent blood.' But they said, 'What is that to us? See to it yourself.'" (Matt. 27:4) Rather than bear that into the wilderness himself, he cast it into the temple and when and hanged himself.

Did this fulfill his role as scapegoat? Perhaps not, the priest themselves had to remove the blood money from the temple, and they bought a field with it for burying foreigners. Perhaps then those priests were the scapegoats. But this is probably reading to much into it. Throwing it into the temple may be seen as enough. The Leviticus formula does not suggest that one scapegoat can pass the imposition on to another. It was his alone to bear.

But what did Judas continue to bear even after disposing of the blood money? What drove him to kill himself? One thing, the last kiss of Jesus. Did Judas kiss Jesus because he truly loved him? I believe so. He willingly accepted the most grievous mission of any disciple because he truly loved Jesus and like Jesus consented fully to the will of the Father. He sacrificed his own soul so that Jesus could make full atonement for humanity. For one was to the Lord and the other to Azazel, one to glory and praise, the other destruction and scorn.

Who among us would be willing to be damned as Judas Iscariot was? And why? Only for love of Jesus might someone so utterly abandon himself to the will of God. The kiss of Jesus may have been his final consolation. This final kiss may betray an deeper sanctity than any of us might be willing to imagine.

The foregoing is midrash, an imaginative and wildly speculative meditation on scripture. It is not meant to be coherent doctrinal statement or even sensible exegesis. For a more concrete moral discussion, we might grapple with how Christians have scapegoated Jews over the centuries. Is it better to say that it ended with Judas and Jesus than to continue to lay our guilt on Jews?

The commandment of love

2011-04-12T23:48:00.000-04:00

A little something for Maundy Thursday... Every commandment of God is an act of creation.

"By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth. For he spoke, and it [the earth] came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm." (Psalm 33:6,9)

By the word, the creator commands all creation to be. Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment that they love one another. The command to love is, in fact, ancient. It is the heart of the Mosaic law. What, then is new? In the very act of commanding, Jesus is creating something new, securing a foundation of love. The word speaks, and love comes into being. The word commands, and love stands firm. Receive, then, the breath of his mouth.

The Field

2011-04-11T22:51:00.000-04:00

A certain farmer was a devout Jew. He was careful not to reap his fields to the edges, but he always left a little in the field for the poor to glean. He always paid his laborers on time their wages as promised. He never permitted his laborers to work or his animals to be worked on the Sabbath; moreover, he himself did not work on the Sabbath even when his fields were full and the produce might rot in the ground.

One day an esteemed holy man came to town. He was a humble and wise teacher who had nothing but an old tunic and exhausted sandals to wear. The farmer too was in town, selling his produce. He could not quite make out what the man was saying to the crowds as they stood between his cart and the teacher. Late in the day the crowds went away, and the itinerate preacher was left famished. The farmer himself was about to leave for home when he saw the man. He shouted to him, "Teacher, I have these two pears and some bread left. Would you like any of it?" The teacher stopped, came up to the cart and said, "Yes, I would, but I have not a cent to give you." The farmer replied, "Just tell me what you told the crowds, and I will be satisfied to give you all that is left in my cart. It will be payment enough." "Very well," said the teacher, "Go, sell all you possess, give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven." With that the farmer placed the items into his hands and said, "Thank you, Rabbi." The holy man blessed him, and the two parted ways.

As the farmer traveled home, his heart became heavy. "How can I give away all my possessions??? I am no holy man like that prophet. It's all too much for me." Very much grieved, he at last came to his home and was restless all night.

The next morning, he took a hammer and stake out to his field. He pounded the stake into the soil and placed on it a sign which read, "FOR SALE." He told no one what he was doing or why. But upon discovery, his wife and and all the workers became quite worried, then upset. Angry and angrier, the more they thought about it.

The next day, a disciple came knocking at the door seeking to acquire the land. Indeed the offer was not much, but the Jew was generous of heart and agreed to the terms of the deal. The transaction was set to be finalized on the third day.

Though his workers were enraged and his family livid, the farmer slept that night with an indescribable sense of peace. On the day of the transaction, he woke straight up at four in the morning. Bright and radiant was his room and the holy man stood once again before him. "What are you doing, you foolish farmer? Your buyer is no apostle of light. That wicked man will strip the fields bare so that poor have nothing to glean. He will withhold payment to the laborers till the end of time. Moreover, they will be worked night and day till the Sabbath becomes only a distant memory. The animals will be used up, and the land worn out. And you would sell him your inheritance at half price? You have already secured your treasure in heaven. Truly you have given to the poor. Truly you are selling all you possess, but never sell your birthright. Go this day into your inheritance and cultivate your field."