When I was a teenager, I became enamored, as only an anti-establishment teenager in the 1970s could become enamored, of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. The cynical lyrics deconstructed faith and capitalism in a way profoundly appealing to a countercultural16-year-old.
But now I’m 45, and much more committed to human flourishing as well as deconstructing. Still, as I wrote in this post, I worry that my work with the faith and work movement is blinding me to things I should not be blinded to. I want the movement to reassure me that it isn’t, underneath, aiming for the world that Bernstein describes in this song. (The whole set of lyrics can be seen here on YouTube.) I’ll be watching my fellow bloggers eagerly for answers to that question. I don’t think the faith and work movement will make headway in the mainline until it can find a way to set pastors from my generation at ease on this question.
Chorus: God made it be good
Preacher: Created it good
Chorus: Created the gnats
Preacher: Gnats to nourish the sprats
Chorus: Sprats to nourish the rats
Preacher: And all for us big fat cats. Yow!
The Green Room 