Three Songs for These Times
This is part of an ongoing series as we prepare for July 4th, 2026. We're sharing new posts weekly leading up to the 4th.
Dr. Amanda Udis-Kessler offers three more songs for this season, each one wrestling with the same ache: how do we sing of peace and justice when hatred is empowered and violence is so bold? The answer is the songs themselves — two return to the old question, how can I keep from singing?, and one, written for Trans Day of Remembrance, turns sorrow into resistance, calling us to say their names.
How Can We Sing?
Amanda Udis-Kessler, March 9, 2026 (Finlandia)
How can we sing the songs of peace and justice? How can we sing the new songs and the old?
How can we sing the hope of human kindness when cruelty’s reign is tragic to behold?
How can we sing when hatred is empowered? How can we sing when violence is so bold?
And yet our songs may somehow make a difference if they reveal the love that’s ever true
So we will sing the songs of peace and justice, and we will sing the old songs and the new.
Dear God, we sing the hope of human kindness and raise our voice in songs of praise to you.
My Life Flows on in Endless Song
adapted by Amanda Udis-Kessler, November 21, 2024
My life flows on in endless song amidst earth’s lamentation.
The sounds of sadness fill my ears, the grief that floods a nation
And yet beneath the rage and pain, a different music’s ringing.
It sets me on the path of love. How can I keep from singing?
When hope is hard and fear takes hold, the kin-dom dream surrounds me,
Inviting me to live its truth. Its endless grace astounds me.
The faith of Jesus calls me on, the rock to which I’m clinging.
Since love is here for all to claim, how can I keep from singing?
Though tyrants reign, though violence rules, a mustard seed is growing:
A seed of peace, a seed of trust. Its presence keeps me going.
There’s work to do. There’s care to give. There’s gifts I could be bringing.
I’ll do my work. I’ll give my care and raise my voice in singing.
Say Their Names was written for Trans Day of Remembrance — to honor trans lives, especially Black trans women. The practice it holds is older and wider than any single day: to refuse the erasure of the beloved by speaking their names aloud. Congregations may extend it to all whose names those in power would rather we forget — Black lives stolen by violence, Palestinians killed through genocide, immigrants disappeared off the streets and out of their homes, activists silenced, women who died because reproductive healthcare was denied them, those whose stories were scrubbed from public memory and government records.
Say their names.
Say Their Names: A Trans Day of Remembrance Hymn Text
Amanda Udis-Kessler, October 11, 2025 (NCOD); tune is Stand by Me (Tindley)
(In lieu of the echo, “say their names,” feel free to call out the name of a trans person who has
been taken from us too soon.)
Every day, we will remember. Say their names. (Say their names.)
With a love so fierce and tender, say their names. (Say their names.)
In the morning, noon, and night, in our sadness and our fright,
We will honor and uphold them. Say their names. (Say their names.)
They were funny, kind, and clever. Say their names. (Say their names.)
They will live in us forever. Say their names. (Say their names.)
We’ll continue on their path for we understand the task.
We will build a world of justice. Say their names. (Say their names.)
They were wonderfully created. Say their names. (Say their names.)
Let their worth not go unstated. Say their names. (Say their names.)
In their beauty, they were free as they lived who they must be.
We are glad and we are grateful. Say their names. (Say their names.)
May our lives become a witness. Say their names. (Say their names.)
May our sorrow birth resistance. Say their names. (Say their names.)
We will work in hope and care till there’s freedom everywhere
And each life becomes a blessing. Say their names. (Say their names.)
About This Series
"We Tell a Different Story" is an ongoing series preparing for the 250th anniversary of July 4th, 2026, offering liturgy, prophetic witness, and resources for congregations of conscience. Read the other posts below:
