Un-Churched

I sent you to church, my wide-eyed son;
what did you find, my darling young one?

I found a girl weeping pain to an altar
I found a man with eyes on the time
I found a crowd singing in chorus
I found ten grown women whose ears were burning
and they say Christ will come

I sent you to church, my wide-eyed son;
what did you find, my darling young one?

I found a great book but nobody read it
I found a man-child play chords on guitar
I found the word "sin" but nobody said it
I found a few people who never stopped kneeling
and they say Christ will come

I sent you to church, my wide-eyed son;
what did you find, my darling young one?

I found high-dollar suits and low-dollar offerings
I found Lonely and Bitter and Joyful and Patient
I found straight-talk dying and small-talk living
I found rows of souls with skin of many colors
and they say Christ will come

I sent you to church, my wide-eyed son;
what did you find my darling young one?

I found real good Earth but Heaven is better
I found Tradition is king and God his servant
I found preaching like thunder and healing like lightning
I found a murmur of love to the roar of the world
and they say Christ will come

(a reworking of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall")