As We Sow, So Shall We Reap

I wrote this song in 2000 while travelling by bus from Mexico to Panama, travelling with Angel Orozco and Jill Sourial as part of our Mundo Iximche Maya Breadnut mission.  Most of it 'God downloaded to me' (as my gospel mentor Iris Stevenson from Crenshaw High School  used to say!) in a home stay in El Salvador.  I recorded it in the summer of 2001 in Damascus, Syria, with Syrian television and recording star Rasha Rizk singing and her husband playing lead guitar; Rasha and I multitracked the gospel choir parts and I played acoustic guitar (a baby Taylor that could fit in the overhead rack of the airplane). Rasha played bass and keyboards and syn drums. As an Arab-American Christian it was delightful to perform this with Rasha and her husband, who are Druze and Muslim, as it became the perfect interfaith dialog song.  When the Sept. 11 tragedy happened shortly thereafter we knew the song was needed in order to bring Christians and Muslims and Jews and people of other faiths back together.  The song was broadcast at the Bosra festival in Southern Syria in the ancient Roman Ampitheater after our Circus Guy Musical Goodwill concert to an international audience and we hope that it will be used to help create a new healing dialouge now that the horrors of the Bush years are over!

Lyrics and Chords found below:

Lyrics:

As We Sow, So Shall We Reap
(a.k.a. "More and More: the thanksgiving song")

 copyright 2000 T.H. Culhane
sung by Rasha Rizk and T.H. Culhane
recorded in Damascus, Syria, summer 2001


Life seems full of problems
Never time enough
Work yourself to death just to accumulate more stuff

No time for true Thanksgiving
No room for Christmas Cheer
Seems we've lost our meaning and forgotten why we're here

But Lord I'm not a taker
And Lord my needs are small

I want to make this holiday be holy after all

For as we sow, so shall we reap
The more we give
The more we really keep
And when we learn to give it all away
We find there's more...
and more...
and more...

Hallelujah...
Hallelujah...
Allah...
Allah...
Hallelujah...  Hallelujah...


Considering the lilies
considering the birds
In Nature lies the evidence concealed within His words


He gives with such abundance
That we should do the same
And if our lives are short and mean...
we have ourselves to blame...

For as we sow, so shall we reap
The more we give
The more we really really keep
And when we learn to give it all away
We find there's more...
so much more...
than we thought...

There's always more and more and more and more...

(Gospel choir):

"Because it's world without end
'til God comes again
As it was in the beginning, as it is and ever shall be
We should be good to Men
Make all Men our friends
For blessed are the pure in heart...
we've got to make a start...

Blessed the meek,
The makers of peace...
The world is not so bad a place as some would try to make it...
It's a world without end...
'til God comes again...

Amen"

Allah.....

For as we sow... so shall we reap...
There's always...

more.

More and More c 2000 T.H. Culhane
Lyrics with Chords:

(Gmaj7) (Gdim) (F#m) (Bm)
Hmmm mmm hmmmm mmm hmmmm
(Em7)   (A7)     (D6/9)
Hmmm mmm hmmmm mmm hmmmm

(VERSE)
(Gmaj7)
Life seems full of problems
(Gdim)
Never time enough
(F#m)                                            (Bm)
Work yourself to death just to accumulate more stuff
(Gmaj7)
No time for true Thanksgiving
(Gdim)
No room for Christmas Cheer
(F#m)                                                (Bm)
Seems we've lost our meaning and forgotten why we're here
     (Gmaj7)
But Lord I'm not a taker
      (Gm)
And Lord my needs are small
(F#m)                                     (B7)
I want to make this holiday be Holy after all

CHORUS:
                  (Gmaj7)             (Gdim)
For as we sow, so shall we reap
                    (F#m)
The more we give
                       (Bm)
The more we really keep
                     (Em7)              (A7)
And when we learn to give it all away
                        (Bbmaj7)
We find there's more...
        (Gm7)
and more...
         (D6/9)
and more...

GUITAR SOLO
(Gmaj7) (Gdim)
Hallelujah...
(F#m) (Bm)
Hallelujah...
(Gmaj7)  (Gdim)
Allah...
(F#m) (Bm)
Allah...
(Em7) (A7)  (D6/9)
Hallelujah...  Hallelujah...

VERSE
(Gmaj7)
Considering the lilies
(Gdim)
considering the birds
(F#m)                                   (Bm)
In Nature lies the evidence concealed within His words

(Gmaj7)
He gives with such abundance
(Gm)
That we should do the same
(F#m7)
And if our lives are short and mean...
(B7)
we have ourselves to blame...

CHORUS:
                  (Gmaj7)             (Gdim)
For as we sow, so shall we reap
                    (F#m)
The more we give
                       (Bm)
The more we really keep
                     (Em7)              (A7)
And when we learn to give it all away
                        (Bbmaj7)
We find there's more...
        (Gm7)
and more...
         (D6/9)
and more...
                      (Bbmaj7)          (Gm)                (D6/9)
There's always more, so much more, than we thought
                                        (Bbmaj7)   (Gm)        (D6/9)         
There's always something more, ever more, ever more

(GOSPEL CHOIR):
                        (Bbmaj7)
"Because it's  World Without End
      (Gm)
'til God comes again
       (D6/9)
As it was in the beginning, as it is and ever shall be
               (Bbmaj7)
We should be good to Men
             (Gm)
Make all Men our friends
      (D6/9)
For blessed are the pure in heart... we've got to make a start...
 (Bbmaj7)
Blessed the meek,
(Gm)
The makers of peace...
(D6/9)
The world is not so bad a place as some would try to make it...
(Bbmaj7)
It's a world without end...
(Gm)
'til God comes again...

(D6/9)

Amen"
(Bbmaj7) (Gm) (D6/9)
Allah.....
               (Gmaj7)
For as we sow...
                   (Gdim - slide up neck of guitar)
so shall we reap...

There's always...
(D6/9)
more.