It’s always there
It’s the air that we breathe in
It’s the water that we swim in
It’s the current that takes us
Down to the altar and makes us
Drown
This water, it used to be wine
Until we tried to trade our shame
For thirty silver coins salvaged from a shipwreck that
We bought off the docks with a hand written check that…
Bounced
And now
Shame is the currency we trade in today
Blame is the paper bill we drop in the plate
We give the tenth
We hold back the rest
Hoping we’ll be blessed
Once these forged checks
Clear
But the lights must continue to shine
The staff must get paid on time
The preacher is worth his coins of copper
Casting guilty hooks into the shameful waters
A fisher of men
Ashamed of our sin
Just where we all intend
To stay
Always until next sunday
When we’ll come back for more
To give some shame and take some more
And never ever discover the door
To enter and know we are loved as we are
Truly loved just as we are
Today
Our shame is what lifts us higher and higher
Our shame is fuel for this unholy fire
Our shame is the song on every tongue in the choir
And our shame is the object of our whole entire
Devotion
Devotionless
Emotionless
Broken
Down and out
I drowned
I wept for you… today
And I heard you say…
Shame is the currency they trade in
In my temple it’s the blood that they’ve paid in
It’s all they’ve known and I don’t even blame them
But I am sending you to enrage them
To turn their tables
To cast them out
Let the whip crack and shatter the air
As you restore my temple to a house of prayer
Time and time and half a times
Again
Let it be known
There is no shame in being born fragile into a broken world
…And breaking
There is no shame in being born a rat into a labyrinth’s maze
…And gettin’ lost
There is no shame in being told you’re worthless
…And seeking escape any way that you possibly can from every voice that tore through your fragile heart even if it was only
…your own
For you and for these
For you and for me
For us the curtain is torn
For the shamelessly broken
For the shamelessly lost
For the shamelessly addicted
It is you who know who you are
So let us enter
And be received
And be mended
And be found
And be made whole
And be finally and truly free
The only offering plate here
Is the ground on which you stand
I am not a show
I am no song and dance, kid
I am your father
And your blood I have never demanded
Nor the blood of my Son
No
That was all your own doing
Done in my name
In your kingdom of Shame
So come
Let’s burn it down together
And warm ourselves by my holy flame
Until all men know
They are one and the same
No separation
No division
No finger of blame
For each and every one
Each and every life
Is made of the sound of my name
And I AM
I AM worth all that you are
And you
You are worth all that I AM to me
And that, my child
Is my
monetary
policy
