This morning we celebrate an extraordinary songwriter, who just happens to belong to the Community Church of New York, Unitarian Universalist: Pete Seeger. Many of us had the privilege a couple of years ago at the General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas, of hearing him play and sing along with a host of musical friends. For me, at least, it was one of the most spiritual experiences I had at that General Assembly.

Pete Seeger wrote a song in 1997 called “And I’m Still Searching,” which I find to be one of the best examples of a simple song with a profound message, something he is a master at:

And I’m still searching
Yes, I’m still searching
For a way we all can learn
To build a world
Where we all can share
The work, the fun,
The food, the space,
The joy, the pain,
And no one ever
Ever need or want to seek
To be a millionaire.

There is a wonderful interview with Pete at Beliefnet, with text and recordings, that sheds a lot of light on his story and his beliefs. While most of his most famous songs are from the Vietnam War protests, or part of the environmental protection movement, they all seem to have a common thread of a simple theology: Be nice to each other, don’t take more than you need, be fair and loving. Here are a few of those that speak most deeply to me:

Songs by Pete Seeger

Of Time and Rivers Flowing (1973)

Of time and rivers flowing
The seasons make a song
And we who live beside her
Still try to sing along
Of rivers, fish, and men
And the season still a-coming
When she’ll run clear again.

So many homeless sailors,
So many winds that blow
I asked the half blind scholars
Which way the currents flow
So cast your nets below
And the gods of moving waters
Will tell us all they know.

The circles of the planets
The circles of the moon
The circles of the atoms
All play a marching tune
And we who would join in
Can stand aside no longer
Not let us all begin.

River of My People (1953)

There’s a river of my people
And its flow is swift and strong,
Flowing to some mighty ocean,
Though its course is deep and long.
Flowing to some mighty ocean,
Though its course is deep and long.

Many rocks and reefs and mountains
Seek to bar it from its way.
But relentlessly this river
Seeks its brothers in the sea.
But relentlessly this river
Seeks its brothers in the sea.

You will find us in the mainstream,
Steering surely through the foam,
Far beyond the raging waters
We can see our certain home.
Far beyond the raging waters
We can see our certain home.

For we have mapped this river
And we know its mighty force
And the courage that this gives us
Will hold us to our course.
And the courage that this gives us
Will hold us to our course.

Oh, river of my people,
Together we must go,
Hasten onward to that meeting
Where my brothers wait I know.
Hasten onward to that meeting
Where my sisters wait I know.

Pete’s Song (2001)

There are three things
Most beautiful
In all the world we know
Nay, there are four
So wonderful
For mortal eyes to behold.

A bird on the wing
A snake on the rock
And a man and a maid in love
One more thing, yes, one more thing
And a ship under sail plowing the waves.

We’ll never know all the how’s and why’s
But we know that we’re here
And if we believe God gave us gifts
He’d want us to use them now
Today, this year.

To build a world where all can share
The big and small, the low and high
We’ll never know if we will succeed
But I believe that we must try.

Source: All lyrics by Pete Seeger, member of the Community Church of New York, Unitarian Universalist.

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