​Ruth and Esther and Brandi Carlile


a Morning Devotional


Her liberating roots music -- emancipating Americana -- has a heart for 
the unwelcome, the unloved, the forgotten, the vulnerable, and the forsaken.   

Married to one woman (Catherine) and the mother of two children, Brandi Carlile is
nourished by a generous, non-fundamentalist appreciation of the Bible and Christian faith.

Her songs can be good for a morning devotionals.  Watch the official video for The Joke and
then read the paragraphs below by Robert Williamson on the Books of Esther and Ruth.
​
Give yourself a few minutes to reflect prayerfully on how the three --
the two paragraphs and the song --  might complement each other.  

Then grab an envelope and jot down one practical thing you'd like to do today
to be a friend to the friendless, even if that person happens to be yourself.

 * Dr. Robert Williamson:  Forgotten Books of the Bible: Recovering the Five Scrolls for Today.

Acceptance Speech at 2019 Grammy's

“Americana music is the island of the misfit toys [and] I am such a misfit,..I came out of the closet at 15 years old, when I was in high school, and I can assure you that I was never invited to any parties....I never got to attend a dance,.. To be embraced by this enduring and loving community has been the dance of a lifetime. Thank you for being my island.”

Brandi Carlile's Faith and Theology (hints of)

"There are so many people feeling misrepresented...So many people feeling unloved. Boys feeling marginalized and forced into these kind of awkward shapes of masculinity that they do or don't belong in... so many men and boys are trans or disabled or shy. Little girls who got so excited for the last election, and are dealing with the fallout. The song is just for people that feel under-represented, unloved or illegal."

​-- Brandi Carlile on The Joke, Ann Powers, NPR
"Well, my Christian faith has always been incredibly important to me. I find myself more or less focused at times in my life, depending on what I’m choosing to put my energy into. But it’s always there in a really consistent way. What attracts me to church in general is my belief in fellowship and community...I’ve gone through difficult times finding acceptance and fellowship at different points in my life because I’m gay. As with any plight, I’ve known that I’ve needed to remain persistent and faithful. I feel really lucky to be a part of the church I’m involved with now and to get to bring my music and perspective of equality to my community."​-- Brandi Carlile, Richmond Times Dispatch, Jjne 28, 2012


Biblical Lures for Feeling

The Book of Ruth:
​Breaking Down Barriers

​"The book of Ruth calls us to stop being afraid of one another. To break down barriers rather than building up walls of protection. To welcome strangers rather than banning their entry into the country. To uplift the talents of DACA kids and to encourage the contributions immigrants make to our communities. To elect representatives who may not look like us or believe like us but who have the community’s best interests at heart. In short, the book of Ruth calls us to set aside our anxieties about each other and to live into the rich diversity that already makes America great."

Williamson Jr., Robert. The Forgotten Books of the Bible: Recovering the Five Scrolls for Today . Fortress Press. Kindle Edition. 
"It's music with a message, and it's a harsh message; you know, it's a message about needing to do better and about the plight of the displaced peoples in this world. Refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants, and also about gender dysphoria and its place in our country and our need for understanding and acceptance." 

​-- Brandi Carlisle

Live Version of the Joke
​powerful complement to official video

On Austin City Limits
watch her daughter, Evangeline,
come on stage at the beginning

The Song of Songs:
​Affirming Sexuality

If we read the Song of Songs allegorically, with God in the role of the male lover, we find a God who loves humanity passionately, who embraces us and says, “You are utterly beautiful, my dearest. / There’s not a single flaw in you” (4:7). If we read God as the female lover, we find a God who claims us before we claim her, who seeks us when we wander away from her, who seals it upon our hearts that the love of God is stronger than death. If we read these layers simultaneously—embracing both the sexuality and the allegory of the text—we find that there is in fact something divine about human sexuality. Not only is it good and pleasurable in its own right, but it is also capable of expressing the love between God and humanity. Far from being shameful or unspeakable in polite company, human sexuality gives expression to the passionate love of God for humanity. Nothing else can express the urgency, passion, and intimacy of God’s love for us.

Williamson Jr., Robert. The Forgotten Books of the Bible: Recovering the Five Scrolls for Today . Fortress Press. Kindle Edition. 

Lyrics to the Joke

​You're feeling nervous, aren't you, boy?
With your quiet voice and impeccable style
Don't ever let them steal your joy
And your gentle ways, to keep 'em from running wild
They can kick dirt in your face
Dress you down, and tell you that your place
Is in the middle, when they hate the way you shine
I see you tugging on your shirt
Trying to hide inside of it and hide how much it hurts
Let 'em live while they can
Let 'em spin, let 'em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I've seen how it ends
And the joke's on them
You get discouraged, don't you, girl?
It's your brother's world for a while longer
We gotta dance with the devil on a river
To beat the stream
Call it living the dream, call it kicking the ladder
They come to kick dirt in your face
To call you weak and then displace you
After carrying your baby on your back across the desert
I saw your eyes behind your hair
And you're looking tired, but you don't look scared
Let 'em live while they can
Let 'em spin, let 'em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I've seen how it ends
And the joke's on them
Let 'em live while they can
Let 'em spin, let 'em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I've seen how it ends
And the joke's on them
Picture
Catherine Shepherd and Brandi Carlile: m. 2012

Afterthought: Roots in What? 

The Joke is one example of roots music. So what are its roots?  The answer depends on how far back you want to go. In American culture we have two alternative and competing American dreams:
​
  • the dream of upward mobility, where people climb a ladder of “success” based on the values of appearance, affluence, and marketable achievement, on the one hand, 
  • the dream of what Martin Luther King. Jr. called beloved community, where people take care of one another and (so we add now) the larger web of life, with no one left behind. 

The first dream is “rooted” in the economic aspirations of many European settlers as they left the “old world” and came to a “new world” for the sake economic prosperity.  The second dream is rooted in the visions of equality and justice found in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as transformed into contemporary terms that include gender and race as well as class.   Brandi Carlile’s The Joke is rooted in the second dream.  It is not rooted in that side of American culture which is greedy, narcissistic, patriarchal, bullying, dominating, and “strong” in a unilateral king-on-a-throne sense.  It is rooted in that side of American culture which says “yes” to the abandoned, forsaken, neglected, isolated, bullied, or forgotten.  The books of Esther and Ruth, and The Joke by Brandi Carlile, are invitations to live into the second dream.  (Jay McDaniel)
Open Horizons