God Don't Make No Trash
From Bare: A Pop Opera Cast
I'll talk to you the other side of this song ...
SISTER CHANTELLE
You don't have to say another word, you just listen to me.
You don't have to say another word, you just listen to me.
PETER
Sometimes it seems-
Sometimes it seems-
SISTER CHANTELLE
You don't have to say another word, just listen to me!
When God sits on his mighty throne
And says 'what shall I make today?'
He don't grab a drawing board
There's ain't no mistakes, the man don't play
He simply opens up his heart
Out come tumbling works of art
God don't make no trash
You don't have to say another word, just listen to me!
When God sits on his mighty throne
And says 'what shall I make today?'
He don't grab a drawing board
There's ain't no mistakes, the man don't play
He simply opens up his heart
Out come tumbling works of art
God don't make no trash
PETER
That's nice of you to say, but I-
SISTER CHANTELLE
Come on, baby, shut up.
God don't make the same, y'see
Or everyone would look like me
People need to start to think
It ain't a rainbow without the pink
Stupid folk play in judge and jury
They're the one that's gonna know God's fury
Cause God don't make no trash
PETER
I'm gonna be late, so-
SISTER CHANTELLE
Boy you better believe it
That God is on your side
He'll be your strength, your rock, your truth
Your everlasting guide
Boy you better believe it
Some folks will act the fool
So caught up with hate
That they forget the golden rule
Boy you better believe it
You're who you need to be
'Cause love is love, love is truth, love is God
And love will set you free
People point a finger
You feel free to point it back
Two folks want to fall in love
With no one hurt, what's wrong with that?
God is love all the time
Search your heart and I think you'll find
God don't make no trash
And if you're wondering why I'm a fan
It's 'cause there's a black woman inside the soul of every gay man
God don't make no,
God don't make no,
God don't make no trash!
PETER
Everything is just so confusing.
SISTER CHANTELLE
Peter...
Nobody has all the answers
Remember the message well
If you hide from yourself
Be someone else for someone else's sake
That would be the greatest mistake
Now say goodbye.
And Peter, remember
God's got your back
And so do I
Joe and I saw Bare, the play this song comes from, a couple of years ago when it was being performed over at Hart House Theatre at the UofT. We enjoyed the performance, but this song really stuck out for me, it reached a very deep place inside. It was a song I needed to hear. I play it every now and then, even though this isn't my kind of music, because it still speaks to me..
We've been told, us gay folk, for so long that we aren't part of God's family, not part of God's plan. We've been told that our lives are worthless, our love is sinful and our souls unredeemable. We've be assailed by billboard reading 'Kill a Queer for Christ' and placards proclaiming 'God Hates Fags.'
Most people I know don't understand why I believe in a God that doesn't believe in me. It's hard for me to explain. But as a young boy I found faith, I found comfort and I found a very deep love. Those things are experienced in the silences of my life - when the silence is broken by voices that tell me that who I am represents a threat to all that's good, I retreat to silence. I retreat to the question, 'Are you still there?'
And so far ... the answer has always been 'yes.'
So I share this song with others who need to know that God Don't Make No Trash. It's as wonderful to hear as it is hard to believe. But my faith begins with silent affirmation, and I pray, that's where it will end.
God doesn't make mistakes - but we do.
ReplyDeletethank you Anonymous and thank you Dave, you and Joe are loved :) Happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteHi! Came over from "The Garden of My Heart" and LOVED your "R" word piece. But HAD to comment here... You write that people ask why you believe in a God that doesn't believe in you...? I hear only that YOU believe in GOD. The second half of that sentence was set down by people, a human construct. ... not God's! On this, the holiest day on the Christian calendar, I know for sure that God believes in every single one of us gay or straight... even if some of his misguided followers pretty high up in the "church" don't! Happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteA couple of weeks ago someone I have known for years, and have worked with regularly, told me for the first time that he is a believer... He said that people have told him that he should tell people that he is a Christian. Then he added that Christ's "fan club" is crazy sometimes, but that shouldn't be the reason we don't follow him ourselves. Just because he's mis-represented, and we don't accept THEIR view of him, doesn't mean we should toss Him out too...
ReplyDeleteThat should be... people have told him he "shouldn't" tell people he is a Christian...
ReplyDeleteHe loves us, he loves us, he loves us. That's all I know.
ReplyDeleteHappy Resurrection Day!!!
I think that, if there's a god, then God walked an eternity from the Garden to God's place in your heart.
ReplyDeleteTimes like this, I believe exactly what I believed 40 years ago. Thank you.
Medieval arguments for the existence of God fall short by today's standards. Originally, those who already had faith used the arguments as ways of further deepening their understanding of God. Today, without "faith seeking understanding," arguments for the existence of God are typically regarded as valid but not sound.
ReplyDeleteWhen faith and reason are united, it's obviously a very strong union. In philosophy, folks sometimes get enraged having discussions about God, which I always found strange.
I live every day in a manner that indicates that I don't truly know whether or not God exists. Some call that being agnostic, but I think a more nuanced view is important on these matters.
Dr. Rieux, in *the Plague* by Camus, knew one things for sure: people were dying horrible deaths all around him. As a physician, he practiced his vocation with dignity and care of others.
Happy Easter