Whatever Happened to Love

 

Whatever happened to love
We only see hatred and self-love
We forgot that showing hate, killing and greed
Weakens a nation and causes it to bleed

Whatever happened to brother helping brother
When did we stop caring for one another
When did another man's pain become not our concern
How much must we lose before we finally learn

We point our fingers and choose a side
While hatred slowly eats us from inside
We fight over who is wrong and who is right
While forgetting we are all standing in the same Light

A nation is not made strong by hate
Nor by deciding another man's fate
It grows strong when its people understand
That we rise together, hand in hand

For what good is wealth if our hearts become cold
What good is power when our brothers are sold
What good is winning if humanity must pay
And another piece of love disappears every day

We were never meant to live this way
Fighting each other day after day
We were given each other so we might see
That your life is connected to me

Perhaps that is what we have forgotten
Beneath everything spoiled and rotten
That the Creator gave us one another
Not as strangers, not as enemies—but as brothers

So before we speak another word of hate
Before another wound becomes too great
Maybe it is time we finally rise above

And remember...

Whatever happened to
LOVE

— William S. Becker

In Times of Despair

 In Times of Despair

In times of despair,

One must always be aware

Of the enemy that wants him removed,

From the path where love is proved.

It whispers, “Leave, you don’t belong,”

It makes the friends seem weak and wrong.

It takes one thought and makes it grow,

Until we’ve forgotten all we know.

But despair is not a place to flee,

It is where the work is shown to me.

For when I have no strength at all,

The Ten becomes the answer to my call.

I cannot rise by strength alone,

Nor build the path upon my own.

I bow my head, my pride I bend,

And place my heart among the friends.

The enemy says, “Separate.”

The Creator says, “Connect.”

And in that choice, again and again,

We find the Creator between the friends.

So when the darkness fills the air,

And nothing seems to answer prayer,

Remember why the darkness came—

To make us call upon His name.

In times of despair,

One must always be aware:

The fall is not the journey’s end—

Hold tighter to the Ten,

and begin again.

There Comes A Time

 There comes a time in every man's life

When he's confronted with suffering and strife.

It's there a man can alter his mode,

And learn how to travel that difficult road.

Life in general gives all one needs,

The answers arrive through our prayers and our pleas.

Each trial's a teacher in rough disguise,

Polishing truth before our eyes.

The mountain's steep and the valleys deep,

Some days you laugh, some nights you weep.

But every stumble, every scar,

Reveals a little more of who you are.

You can't outrun the storms you'll face;

They find us all at their own pace.

The wind may bend you to the ground,

Yet deeper roots are always found.

So don't curse every heavy load;

It may be paving your future road.

For every burden you've carried through

Has quietly been rebuilding you.

When darkness whispers, "Turn around,"

Stand your ground on holy ground.

For suffering's not the journey's end—

It's where the soul begins to mend.

Then one day you'll smile at the path you've trod,

And see each step was arranged by God.

The road was never meant to break your soul...

It was only there to make you whole.

We Come Here to Feel Your Grace

We come here to feel Your grace,

Seeking how to pick up the pace.

How to build the screen we need,

To overcome our pride and greed.

Teach us how to stand as one,

Till every heart and soul are one.

Not for glory, not for fame,

But to exalt Your holy Name.

When the darkness clouds our sight,

Help us choose the path of Light.

When our ego starts to reign,

Turn our losses into gain.

Every friend becomes a key,

Opening what we can't yet see.

Every burden, every fall,

Is just another loving call.

Build between us one desire,

Lift our hearts a little higher.

Let our prayer become one voice,

Teaching every soul to rejoice.

May we never walk alone,

Every heart becomes Your throne.

Hand in hand we'll always stay,

Till night gives birth to endless day.

Chorus

We come here to feel Your grace,

Running now at Heaven's pace.

Building up the screen we need,

Free from foolish pride and greed.

Heart to heart and friend to friend,

Love's the journey, not the end.

With one prayer our voices raise,

Living in Your boundless grace.

Open Every Heart Tonight

 

We open our hearts before every lesson,

So the Light can reprogram without concessions.

We don't come for answers, we don't come for fame,

We come to be changed by the One without name.

Reason says, "Nothing," but faith says, "Begin,"

The battle is waiting somewhere deep within.

Friend beside friend, we rise to the call,

One prayer together can carry us all.

Open every heart tonight,

Shine Your holy, changing Light.

Faith above what eyes can see,

Make one heart from you and me.

The books are a doorway, the friends are the key,

The Light does the work that awakens in me.

It shows me the places where pride likes to hide,

Then teaches surrender instead of my pride.

I came here believing that I had to know,

Now I only ask where You want me to go.

One step above reason, one prayer set free,

The path to tomorrow begins in the ten with me.

Open every heart tonight,

Shine Your holy, changing Light.

Faith above what eyes can see,

Make one heart from you and me.

Break every wall that keeps us apart,

Write Your desire on every heart.

Not what we know, but what we become,

Many small voices... forever made one.

Open every heart tonight,

Shine Your holy, changing Light.

Faith above what eyes can see,

Make one heart from you and me.

One desire... one prayer... one flame,

Every lesson we're changed again!

One Heart Under Many Skies

Today the sky is dressed in light,

With colors dancing through the night.

Fireworks bloom and rivers shine,

Yet greater sparks are yours and mine.

From Texas roads to distant shores,

Through open hearts and study doors,

We've gathered from so many lands,

Connected by unseen hands.

Some speak English, some speak Hebrew,

Some speak Russian, old or new,

Yet when our hearts begin to meet,

A common song becomes complete.

We laugh, we stumble, rise again,

Supported by the strength of friends.

Through every state, both dark and bright,

We help each other seek the Light.

So on this Fourth of July we say,

May love and connection lead the way.

May every ten grow strong and true,

And may the force between us renew.

No firework burns as long or bright

As hearts united in one light.

To all my brothers and sisters dear,

Happy Fourth of July this year.

May our connection grow each day,

And guide us on the common way.

One heart, one prayer, one shared desire,

Together we rise ever higher.

THE ROPE ACROSS THE FIELD

I entered the field at morning light,

Certain the path was clear and bright.

The sun was warm, the air was still,

And confidence walked beside my will.

But fields are strange and fields are wide,

And soon the beasts came from inside.

Doubt began to stalk the ground,

While fear and anger gathered round.

The feelings changed from hour to hour,

Like shifting wind and passing showers.

One moment strong, the next unsure,

One moment rich, the next quite poor.

I searched for peace, I searched for rest,

But found the work was in the test.

For good states come and bad states go,

Like rivers that forever flow.

Then I remembered what was done

Before the darkness had begun.

A covenant written heart to heart,

A promise made before the start.

When sight grows dim and strength is small,

The rope remains through it all.

Tied to the friends, tied to the way,

Tied to the purpose of the day.

The field grows wild, the weeds grow high,

The beasts still roar, the crows still cry.

Yet something stronger holds me still,

A bond beyond my changing will.

The ten remembers when I forget.

The friends remind me not to quit.

And when the dust hides all I see,

Their strength preserves the path for me.

So let the field reveal its face,

Its every beast, its every place.

For I have learned what makes me whole:

Not fleeing from the field—

But holding to the rope.