following Jesus

we follow in your footsteps: a hymn

October 3, 2026 / / 5 Comments

I wanted to write lyrics that would go with the melody “THAXTED” that comes from a movement in the “Jupiter” symphony (The Planets) by Gustav Holst (1874-1934) and has been used several times in hymns. Holst named the standalone tune after the English village of Thaxted in Essex, where he lived for much of his life. Holst adapted the theme in 1921 to match Cecil Spring Rice’s patriotic poem “I Vow to Thee, My Country.” This version became a well-known British patriotic anthem. It is also used as the setting for “O God Beyond All Praising” (1982). The verses use a meter of 7.6.7.6 .

This is what THAXTED sounds like.

 

Trying to get a recording, I went to my standby Suno.com, but alas it would not use that melody. Suno said, “Suno’s terms require that uploaded audio be material the user holds exclusive rights to. Because THAXTED is public domain — which means anyone can use it — no single person can hold exclusive rights to it, and that means it falls outside what can be uploaded regardless of copyright status.” Bummer.

They recommended rather than uploading the THAXTED audio, I could describe the melodic style in my prompt — something like “a majestic, slow-moving hymn melody in the style of classical English hymnody, broad and soaring, 4/4 time.”

That is what I did, resulting in this melody and hymn-like setting. I rather like the new melody and think it works just fine.

 

Once the melody was established I tried an Irish folk tune setting.

 

See which one you like best. The lyrics are below.

 

We follow in your footsteps,
Our brother and our friend.
O Jesus, lead us onward
Until our journeys end.
The vision you have shown us:
A kingdom for us all,
A world of peace and justice
Through actions, great and small.
A people bound by loving
Built strong through hopes and dreams,
Where justice flows among us
Like ever-living streams.

Not bound by fear or hatred,
Nor captive to despair,
We walk the path of courage
That faithful hearts still dare.
Where strangers grow as neighbors,
And enemies find grace,
Your reconciling spirit
Makes room for every face.
No walls of tribe or nation
Can hold your love confined;
You break down all division
And join all humankind.

Gather our scattered longings,
Our hopes and fragile lives;
Restore the broken-hearted
Through love that heals our lives.
Renew our minds for mercy,
Reform our wills for good;
‘Til faith takes flesh in action
In deeds of common good.
Let small acts bloom like gardens
Where seeds of kindness grow;
And through our shared compassion
Your living kingdom show.

Let streams of justice roll down,
Let freedom’s bright bells ring;
‘Til captives find their courage
And wounded hearts can sing.
To love those who would harm us,
And bless those doing wrong;
To answer hate with mercy,
And live so all belong;
Renew our hope and vision,
Set every heart aflame;
‘Til we enact your kingdom
In life, not just in name.

 

© 2026 Kurt Struckmeyer

Contact kurt@followingjesus.org for permission to use for congregational singing.

the kingdom is at hand

March 4, 2026 /

I originally wrote this song fifty years ago—in 1976. It was written and performed for a special occasion. The song was largely forgotten after that.

My theology has changed a lot since then. So, I decided it was time for a revision. I was inspired by the hymn “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” by Johann Sebastian Bach and by Paul Simon’s “American Tune” which uses the Bach chorale’s melody.

I used AI software (Suno) to record it. There are two versions, one an acoustic folk setting and the other a mixed chorus (SATB). The choral arrangement sticks closer to the melody but the folk setting may be my favorite because I sang the original version accompanied by guitar.

 

Folk arrangement

 

Choral arrangement

 

A young man roams the city
With anger in his eyes.
His rage glows like an ember,
His hope in silence dies.
He knows he’s going nowhere,
He knows he cannot win.
His restless cries fill vacant skies
While the kingdom is at hand.

The widow wakes each morning
To toast and tea alone.
Her quiet rooms grow heavy
With memories long gone.
She dreams of friends and loved ones
And futures they had planned.
Shadows fall on silent walls
While the kingdom is at hand.

The young girl on the corner
Earns her living on the street.
While watching cars, she bears the scars
Of lovers and defeat.
In darkness she keeps searching
For yet another man;
A fragile life drifts through the night
While the kingdom is at hand.

The children cry from hunger;
Their weary bodies lie
In rooms where hope grows silent
And childhood passes by.
Their tender dreams lie shattered—
A scar upon the land.
Children’s tears outpace their years
While the kingdom is at hand.

To those who live forgotten,
To those who ache for hope,
To those denied all kindness,
To those who grasp and grope,
No distant throne awaits you,
No heaven far above—
The kingdom rises in our midst
Through acts of costly love.

Jesus showed the way to live—
To feed and clothe and care;
To stand beside the suffering
And find the wounded there.
The lonely and imprisoned
He placed within our hands;
We bear his love into the world—
The kingdom is at hand.

Our efforts may seem fragile,
Our actions small and slow;
But seed by seed a different world
Begins in what we sow.
A life of love is rising,
No power can command;
Where a people live in love
The kingdom is at hand.

 

Music: “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” by Johann Sebastian Bach

© 2026 Kurt Struckmeyer

 

be now our vision: an anthem for our times

February 17, 2026 /

I recently wrote new lyrics to the old hymn melody “Be Thou My Vision.” It is based on a traditional Irish tune called “Slane.” (Another hymn, “Lord of All Hopefulness,” uses the same melody.) I am often inspired by existing music to compose new lyrics.

The first recording is fairly true to the melody of the hymn. (It goes a little astray on a couple of verses.) The Suno.com software that I used varies the melody to avoid copyright infringement, even though the tune is in the public domain. Go figure.

If used for congregational singing, use the traditional “Be Thou My Vision” or “Lord of All Hopefulness” melodies.

 

The second recording is actually my first attempt at using Suno AI software. I wanted to produce a version of the hymn, but instead the software used an alternative tune. This is more dramatic in places. See which you like better.

 

Someone dear to me has called the lyrics “an anthem for our times,” and maybe it is.

 

Be now our vision, O Love that makes whole
Light of the world and the fire of the soul
Call us from comfort when truth is denied
Send us in courage to stand on love’s side

Be now our wisdom, our truth in the fray
Leading with kindness and guiding our way
Not only in words, but in all that we do
May our love become action, faithful and true

Be now our courage when justice is hard
Unmasking powers that wealth often guards
Standing with people the world hates and scorns
Trusting in goodness, where new hope is born

Be now our peace when the world is at war
Mending our hearts from the deepest of scars
Teach us all how to forgive and to fight
With only the weapons of love and light

Be now our kingdom, alive here and now
Shown in the way that we live what we vow
Not found in temples of power and fear
But rising whenever love’s light shines near

Heart of our hearts, whatever may fall
Still be our vision, O Love over all
When every neighbor is loved as a friend
Then justice and mercy will never end

 

© 2026 Kurt Struckmeyer

Contact kurt@followingjesus.org for permission to use for congregational singing.

 

a conspiracy of love

a conspiracy of love

July 9, 2025 /

at the heart of the Gospel

At the heart of Jesus’ gospel is the kingdom of God. This phrase sums up Jesus’ entire ministry and life’s work. The “kingdom of God” points to God’s active rule over human social relationships.

When we read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see that every thought and saying of Jesus was directed toward one thing: the realization of God’s reign—marked by love, compassion, justice, and peace—within human society.

a vision of transformation

The kingdom of God, as Jesus preached it, envisions a profound transformation of both human beings and human institutions—social, political, economic, and religious—so that they express the character of a God of love. It brings together personal and social transformation.

Through metaphors and stories, Jesus described the kingdom as the work of a social and political movement inspired by divine love, restoring what he believed to be God’s intention for humanity from the beginning. Rather than longing for a divine restoration of political and religious power, Jesus painted a vision of God changing the world from within—by creating a new community bonded by egalitarian relationships.

Jesus took the long-awaited dream of a just and compassionate society and made it a living vision that could transform the world.

a vision is like a seed

A vision is like a seed planted in the hearts and minds of people. When it takes root and is nurtured, it can grow to produce astounding results. Jesus used this imagery for the kingdom of God.

He asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? It is like a mustard seed”—the smallest and seemingly most insignificant of seeds—“that someone took and tossed in the garden.”[1]

Some scholars note that in first-century Judaism, a mustard plant—really just a common weed—was forbidden in household vegetable gardens because it spread rapidly and disrupted order. In Jewish thought, order symbolized holiness, while disorder symbolized uncleanness. Rabbinical law forbade mixing certain plants in the same garden. So, when Jesus said someone threw a mustard seed into a garden, his audience understood he was sowing disorder and subverting rule-based holiness.

Like an invasive mustard plant in a tidy garden, the kingdom of God takes root in the world’s domination systems, spreading its subversive message even today.

the enduring domination system

Throughout history, nearly every society has favored an elite minority at the expense of the majority. For thousands of years, economic elites have rigged systems for their own prosperity and control. They extracted wealth from the sweat of slaves, peasants, and laborers, while contributing little to the common good. Social control was maintained through violence and military might, often with religious support. Such societies were patriarchal, with men dominating the lives of women and children, and they often favored one race, tribe, or ethnicity over others.

Biblical scholar Walter Wink (1935–2012) called these societies manifestations of an enduring “domination system” that has shaped human history since civilization arose in the ancient Near East. Wink described it this way:

It is characterized by unjust economic relations, oppressive political relations, biased race relations, patriarchal gender relations, hierarchical power relations, and the use of violence to maintain them all. No matter what shape the dominating system of the moment might take (from the ancient Near Eastern states to the Pax Romana to feudal Europe to communist state capitalism to modern market capitalism), the basic structure has persisted now for at least five thousand years, since the rise of the great conquest states of Mesopotamia around 3000 BCE.[2]

We see the domination system in kingdoms, empires, and dictatorships. Patriarchy has been enforced through customs and religion. Even democratic societies, when controlled by the wealthy and powerful, reproduce the same injustice: massive tax cuts for the rich, bloated military budgets, corporate welfare, vast prison systems, and cuts to social services for the poor are all signs of a corrupt domination system.

overcoming the domination system

Walter Wink argued that Jesus’ teachings were a prescription for dismantling the domination system of his time. The kingdom of God is an antidote to its injustices—a vision that turns the domination system upside down.

In God’s reign, domination values are reversed: the first shall be last and the last shall be first; the greatest will be servants; the powerful will be brought low and the lowly lifted up; the hungry will be fed and the rich sent away empty.

The kingdom belongs especially to the poor, the hungry, and the grieving because they long for its arrival. The rich, entrenched in the domination system, find it nearly impossible to enter.

Every act of resistance against unjust laws, every effort to transform oppressive structures for the common good, is a sign of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed.

a people and a task

The kingdom of God is more than a vision—it calls forth a people inspired to transform society through small daily actions. “Kingdom people” lead radically different lives that challenge injustice and disturb the status quo. Their actions form a conspiracy that persistently prods the powers and principalities toward social transformation.

The kingdom of God thus involves a VISION, a PEOPLE, and a TASK. Continue reading

Jesus and fascism

June 9, 2025 /

I am currently writing a new book. The working title is “Jesus and Fascism: Donald Trump, the MAGA Republicans, and White Christian Nationalism.” For now, I’ll just share the introduction with you.

My unique contribution is the idea that Jesus faced a similar situation in his time as we are facing in the United States today with racially-pure Judean nationalists who wanted a strong-man leader to Make Israel Great Again.

introduction

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.
— John Lewis (1940–2020)

Those who choose, even on a small scale, to love in the midst of hatred and fear are the people who offer true hope to our world.
— Henri Nouwen (1932–1996)

I awoke on the morning of Wednesday, November 6, 2024, to the realization that the twice-impeached and criminally-indicted former president Donald Trump was elected to the presidency once again. For a while, it was easy to dismiss Donald Trump’s 2016 victory as a fluke. Eight years later, that’s now impossible. Some observers might think Donald Trump’s first term represented rock bottom. Just wait. I think we are in for a tough fight.

At first, I could not believe it, nor could I understand it. I was shocked, confused, and utterly dismayed. Why would the American public vote this way? What did they see in this man? Firmly ensconced in my blue liberal bubble, I thought the majority of Americans were better than this. It appears I was wrong.

Continue reading

windswept and woke: a sermon by Rev. David Felten

June 8, 2025 /

David Felten is the pastor at The Fountains United Methodist Church in Fountain Hills, AZ. I originally became aware of him when he emailed and then phoned me in late 2020 to say that he wanted to preach a sermon series based on my book “A Conspiracy of Love.” I was flattered by the gesture. That series grew to 19 sermons from January through June in 2021. I eagerly watched each Sunday when the church “studio” service appeared of their YouTube channel. Then in 2024, he preached another 12 sermons based on my book “People of the Way” from January to May. (You can see them all at www.followingjesus.org/videos.)

I have come to regard David as my pastor and my friend because he speaks to me about what it means to be a progressive follower of Jesus in our contemporary situation. He is passionate about justice, equality, and human dignity. I regularly follow his sermons on YouTube (www.youtube.com/@FountainsUMC).

On June 8, 2025, Pentecost Sunday, David titled his sermon “Windswept and Woke” in which he compared the Jesus followers in Jerusalem on Pentecost to the current situation in the United States. It is a powerful sermon and deserves to be more widely heard.

In it, he paraphrases John F. Kennedy’s “I’m proud to be a liberal” statement with this comment:

“Stay Woke”

“If by ‘woke’ they mean someone who
chooses to stay awake rather than
sleepwalk through injustice . . . someone who
listens to new voices instead of cling to
old prejudices . . . someone who believes that
health care, housing, education, jobs, civil
rights, and human dignity matter —
then I’m proud to say I’m woke.”

David’s preaching style is warm, casual, conversational, and frequently humorous. Enjoy and be inspired.

does that complete your order? (the feeding of the 5,000): a sermon by Rev. David Felten

June 6, 2025 /

Pastor of The Fountains United Methodist Church in Fountain Hills, AZ, Rev. David Felten delivers his studio sermons in a casual, conversational, and often humorous manner. This sermon on the feeding of the 5,000 is entitled “Does That Complete Your Order?” David relates that he once worked at a McDonald’s and he was taught to up-sell an order. As we hunger for justice in a world of poor, sick, malnourished, and marginalized people, how would we complete our order?

For more of David’s sermons, check out www.followingjesus.org/videos to see his sermons based on my books “A Conspiracy of Love” and “People of the Way”.

the biblical understanding of the resurrection of the dead

May 28, 2025 /

(This post is an excerpt from An Unorthodox Faith: A New Reformation for a Postmodern World by Kurt Struckmeyer)

 

In spite of nearly universal Christian belief about a heavenly afterlife, Jesus never proclaimed a message about life after death. It was not as if it was a foreign concept to him; the belief was widespread in the Roman Empire of the first century. The Egyptians believed in a shadowy existence after death and had for thousands of years. Likewise, the Greeks believed that an immortal soul continued after earthly existence ended, as did the Zoroastrians in Persia. From the south, north, and east, these ideas prevailed among the peoples surrounding Palestine. But for Jesus, otherworldliness and a future life in heaven was not a central part of his ministry or mission. His proclamation of the kingdom of God was about a transformed life on this side of the grave. It was all about how we live today, not what happens after we die.

So why is there this widespread belief—shared by most clergy—that the message of Jesus was a message about a heavenly afterlife? Perhaps uncritical acceptance of a centuries-long tradition of doctrines created by ecclesial committees and a fundamental lack of interest in serious biblical scholarship is part of the answer. But being afraid to speak the truth to laity is the major issue. Letting people believe what they want to believe is the easier path to take. After all, clergy stand by their parishioners at the graveside when a loved one dies. Comfort, not challenge, is a requirement of their job. Still, at some point it becomes necessary to tell the truth about what is really in the Bible, if in fact the Bible is to be a foundation of Christian faith. And one thing is sure—a heavenly afterlife was not central to the message of Jesus in the gospel accounts.

One confusion about a heavenly afterlife is the concept of the resurrection of the dead. People often assume that the resurrection spoken of in the New Testament is an immediate transition from the moment of death into a glorious heavenly existence in the presence of God (or Jesus). But it’s not. Biblical resurrection is the idea that the dead will someday return to a renewed life here on earth, not to a heavenly dimension.

In the first century, the idea of the bodily resurrection was a fairly recent innovation in Jewish thought, espoused primarily by the Pharisees—including the Apostle Paul who claimed he was educated as a Pharisee. The Pharisees believed that those who had died as martyrs for their faith would be raised by God to experience new life in an earthly messianic kingdom and would be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their martyrdom in a renewed life as vindicated heroes. Resurrection was an issue of justice for the faithful but was clearly a concept based on wish-fulfillment.

Continue reading

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s conscientious participation in violence

January 25, 2025 /

Before we had an all-volunteer Army, the United States government historically made provisions for conscientious objectors in the military draft procedure known as the Selective Service System. A conscientious objector was either classified as 1-A-O and served in the military as a non-combatant, or was classified as 1-O and served in an alternative service capacity, such as an orderly in a VA hospital.

But the government only recognized people who objected to military service based on religious grounds, not moral or philosophical grounds. This tended to favor Christians from the historic peace churches such as the Mennonites and Quakers who include pacifism as part of their religious training. Accordingly, the Christian had to be opposed to all wars to be a conscientious objector.

During the Vietnam War, the Supreme Court widened the definition of religious grounds to include any Christian with sincere beliefs regarding military service. But the court did not extend the privilege to those who opposed specific wars on the basis of moral or philosophical grounds. It was thus impossible for a Christian who opposed a specific war on the grounds that it was unjust or immoral to be classified as a conscientious objector.

a just war

Most churches embraced what is known as the Just War Theory. But they usually failed to apply it to any conflict. Governments were regularly given the benefit of the doubt that their cause and their actions are just. The just-war criteria were generally ignored and, as a result, Christians frequently march off to kill one another in service to the state without a second thought. As churches, we engaged in no serious dialogue, no discussion, and no concrete debate. In practice the just-war theory was not taken seriously by anyone—church or state.

But there is another viewpoint, and that is one that I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer was faced with in World War II. Participating in military service as an armed combatant requires the Christian to be ready to take human life. Therefore the basic stance of the individual Christian and the church should be that participation in warfare is always fundamentally wrong and that non-participation should be the norm. This I think was Bonhoeffer’s view. Participation in war is sinful and unjust.

But, from Bonhoeffer’s viewpoint, if the individual Christian believes that by participating in this sinful activity a greater good may be gained—the protection of innocent people or the control of aggressive states—then the individual has a right to make that ethical decision—one of conscientious participation in violence. The individual must assess the situation and the alternatives and must determine what is the just, right, and compassionate thing to do.

Continue reading

prayer to the spirit of love

October 6, 2024 /

Spirit of love,
you are the breath that fills us.
You are the pulse that animates us.

Your love flows within us,
your compassion connects us,
your presence surrounds us.

You dwell within each of us.
You fill our souls with courage and strength,
and empower us to new life.

Yet the world does not know you.
Everywhere, people dwell in darkness.
Blind and sightless, they cannot see the true light.

Daily they struggle for safety and security,
through power and prestige,
through wealth and possessions.

Endlessly they struggle for control and domination—
one gender over another,
one race over another,
one religion over another,
one country over another,
and violence, not love, is their redemption.

May we have the courage and strength
to love our neighbors,
to reconcile with enemies,
to break down barriers,
to unite in community,
to share our bread,
to speak the truth,
and to offer our lives.

May we be seeds, leaven, salt, and light,
transforming the world.

May we reflect Jesus’ vision for all of life,
and to joyfully welcome his world of justice and peace.

Amen.

 

© 2012 Kurt Struckmeyer

 

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