Scripture

Luke 6:38 (NIV)

"Give, and it will be given to you.

A good measure,

pressed down, shaken together

and running over,

will be poured into your lap.

For with the measure you use,

it will be measured to you."

Refrain

I cannot be separated from the pattern of love.

Quote

Gregory Palamas

"God revealed the Christ in Jesus

so that humanity could never be separated

from the pattern that he portrayed."

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Scripture

Habakkuk 3:17–18 (NIV)

Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Refrain

Love could not bear that.

Quote

St. Silouan, from St. Silouan the Athonite

by Archimandrite Sophrony

"A certain hermit said with evident satisfaction,

'God will punish all atheists.

They will burn in everlasting fire.'

Silouan was clearly upset.

He said,

'Tell me — supposing you went to paradise,

and there you looked down

and saw someone burning in hell-fire —

would you feel happy?'

'It can't be helped,' said the hermit.

'It would be their own fault.'

Silouan answered with a sorrowful countenance:

'Love could not bear that.

We must pray for all.'"

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Scripture

1 John 4:18 (NIV)

There is no fear in love.

But perfect love drives out fear,

because fear has to do with punishment.

The one who fears

is not made perfect in love.

Refrain

I am drawn by love, not driven by fear.

Quote

Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ

"If you are frightened into God,

it is never the true God that you meet.

If you are loved into God,

you meet a God worthy of both Jesus and Christ.

How you get there

is where you arrive."

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:55 (NIV)

"Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"

Refrain

Christ descends to where I am and brings me up.

Quote

John Chrysostom, from Paschal Homily

"Let those who have fasted

and those who have not fasted

rejoice today.

The table is fully laden; feast sumptuously.

Let no one grieve poverty,

for the universal Kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one fear death,

for the Savior's death has set us free.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.

It took earth, and encountered Heaven.

It took what it saw,

and was overcome by what it did not see.

Christ is Risen, and the demons are fallen.

Christ is Risen, and life is freed.

Christ is Risen,

and the tomb is emptied of its dead."

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:51 (NIV)

Listen, I tell you a mystery:

We will not all sleep,

but we will all be changed.

Refrain

I have a place in the family of things.

Quote

Mary Oliver, from Wild Geese

"Meanwhile the world goes on...

meanwhile the wild geese,

high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese,

harsh and exciting —

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things."

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Scripture

John 12:36 (NIV)

"Believe in the light

while you have the light,

so that you may become children of light."

Refrain

Christ is the light in whom I live and move.

Quote

Athanasius

"God in Christ became the bearer of flesh for a time,

so that humanity could become

the bearer of Spirit forever."

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Scripture

Matthew 22:10 (NIV)

So the servants went out into the streets

and gathered all the people they could find,

the bad as well as the good,

and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Refrain

There is room for everyone at this table.

Quote

Maximus the Confessor

"God made all beings to this end,

to enjoy the same union of humanity and divinity

that was united in Christ."

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Scripture

Romans 4:17 (NIV)

As it is written:

"I have made you a father of many nations."

He is our father in the sight of God,

in whom he believed —

the God who gives life to the dead

and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Refrain

I am always becoming, never ending.

Quote

Walt Whitman, from Song of Myself

"All goes onward and outward...

and nothing collapses,

and to die is different from what any one supposed,

and luckier."

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