Mickey, my husband is an Epsicopal priest. We had a long talk recently about heresies, blasphemies, etc., especially in light of our current culture. One of the (I think) more important things we arrived at was that throughout Christian history, some people have tried to keep thinking and figure out more than whatever they were taught. And that this is a good part of being human. Where human thinking has gone wrong has been when people disagreed over things in a rigid and unprayerful fashion... When this has been extreme, heresies and schisms have been the result, with each side rigidly committed not only to their own rightness but to the sinful WRONGNESS of the other-- and that's just old legalism at work again, which is also very human. (Not our best side!)

Blashphemy is actually a narrowly-definable sin having to do with parading a thing of the Holy Spirit as NOT the Spirit, or sort of vice versa. It has to do with pasting a bad thing onto the face of the holy and passing it off as the holy, or denying the holiness of what is holy in a destructive fashion that causes others to turn from the holy toward something else held up as better.

I have not seen your song yet, and with this crummy 486 I may never see it unless you post the words here or e-mail them to me. But from the way you wrote your post, I bet it does not fit this latter description (blasphemy), but rather the former (a person trying to think through a thing). I bet you are someone trying to THINK. The Episcopal Church recognizes this as an important thing we humans do to meet what is holy, in full will and enagagement.

I'd be pleased to discuss with you further. Things like this, though, have often not gone well at Mudcat. I hope this time it does. But I'd be pleased to discuss further in e-mail and if you'd like to be in touch, please do.

Now another thing you need to consider is, if the culture within which you are doing this song receives it as painful or wrong or blasphemous, does it matter of you are technically right? (Legalism again!) Perhaps there is a higher level on which you can say what you are trying to dsay with this song that does not cause bad feeling?

I have a great booklet that talks about the Good and the Great in Art. One aspect of the discussion in it is about Good Art portraying accurately the fallibilities and distress patterns of people, while Great Art rises above this to inspire us beyond our usual level of perception and response. So... maybe this song is, for you, an interim stab at what you want to say.

Finally, it sounds to me (IMO) like the people who have evaluated this song so harshly are themselves heavily engaged in legalism. The bottom line is, it is not up actually to them to define blasphemy, nor me, nor you, nor anyone else on the planet. It is defined by God. And He can tell you Himself if you are in error, if you are seeking His guidance. Don't settle for anyone else's voice but His, and your own thoughtful and prayerful response to it, if you really want to reach peace on this subject and if you really want to know what you "should" do with this song.

BUT KEEP THINKING.

(Click HERE to e-mail me.)

~Susan