At Countryside’s April 19th service, where we explored the origin of our present Bible, worship participants were asked what additions they would suggest if a Bible 2.0 or Bible Companion were created that contained material not found in our present Bible.  Below is a compilation of suggestions, broken down by 9 or 11 AM service.  The lists in each category are random except where a suggestion appeared multiple times (in which case it’s listed at the top, in order of frequency).

Looking over the lists, a few observations could be made.  Here are a few (Make your observations in the Comments section!!)

• MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech came out on top in both services.
• The hymn, “Amazing Grace” was also a clear favorite.
• If the Bible contained something other than texts, music is clearly the next thing that would be added (Incidentally, music makes a number of appearances in our present Bible.  A number of texts are thought to be short snippets of songs, and many if not most of the Psalms were originally sung).
• The variety of music people from both services would place in Bible 2.0 is quite broad – anywhere from traditional organ music to Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.  The Beatles (or individual Beatles) made a showing in both services, as did Handel’s Messiah.
• There are lots of references to nature.  If the natural world could be contained in a Bible, clearly CCCers would want it there!
• While quite a wide variety of texts, music, film, and visuals were suggested as additions to the Bible, it is intriguing to note that no television shows were suggested except for a clip from “Britain’s Got Talent” and a clip from Bryant Gumbel’s “Real Sports” on HBO.  Yet the average American watches a full 151 hours of television each month (5 hrs a day!).  Just think what would happen if we spent even half that time engaged with the kinds of things we identify as truly helpful for our spiritual life!

9 AM SERVICE

Texts
“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr.     x 4
US Constitution
Declaration of Independence
“To Kill a Mockingbird”
“A Christmas Carol”
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr.
Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
Buddhist texts
poetry of Henry David Thoreau
journaling, prompts from spirituality class
Native American Folklore
“On the Pulse of the Morning” by Maya Angelou
“Many Lives, Many Masters” by Brian Weiss
well-written, honest autobiography or biography
“The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran

Music
music  (non-specific)   x 15
“Amazing Grace”    x 5
Handel’s “Messiah”    x 5
traditional songs from the hymnal
“Love” by the Beatles
music by Bach
The Grateful Dead
“Your Song” by Elton John
sitting in church with the organ playing ageless hymns
the hymn “On Eagle’s Wings”
Christmas hymn “O Holy Night”
hymn “How Great Thou Art”
hymn “In This Very Room”
meditative music
the tinkling bell of LOVE
Easter music
Gabriel Faure’s “Requiem”
“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Christmas music
classical music:  Chopin, Mozart, Brahms, Bach
Beethoven Symphony
“How Great Thou Art”
spiritual music
sacred music
Luther hymn “A Mighty Fortress is our God”
Handel’s Water Music
classical symphony music
Pachelbel Canon
Brahm’s First Symphony (second movement)
song “O’er All the Way”
Bach’s cantata “Wachet Auf”

Films/Video/Drama
Cinema Paradisio
Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” movie
the Internet clip of “Britain has Talent”

Visuals
the cross
watching my children sleep
butterflies
Pelican Lake, Minnesota
the majesty of glaciered mountains
Norman Rockwell paintings
Sistine Chapel
visual arts

Other
nature        x 17
family        x 3
prayer        x 3
meditation    x 2
God is Love        x 2
AA
Statue of Liberty, symbol and words
God’s love
Grand Canyon
mountain views
friends
my children
daily dynamic happenings
the sea
effective sermons
being in God’s house
birth of a baby
helping others
God is Love always
Mother
spiritual dreams
worship
walking on a mountain trail
talent and time given by so many for new projects and new ideas
that everyone love one another
experiencing renewal:  spring, new ideas, forgiveness, birth
climbing Cadillac Mountain
LIFE
hiking in natural areas
babies
family
birth of a baby
my granddaughter Molly
saying our dinner and bedtime prayers with our children
good role models (actions that bring hope)
experiencing random acts of kindness from others, those we know and strangers
the daily witness of seeing my wife serve others’ medical needs, putting their lives before     her physical and emotional needs

11 AM SERVICE

Texts
“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr.  x 12
The Shack” book    x 4
Asphalt Jesus”    x 3
Dead Sea Scrolls    x 2
JFK inaugural speech
“Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo
“The God Who Fell from Heaven” poetry by John Shea
line from Les Miserable “To love another person is to see the face of God”
“To Kill a Mockingbird”
“I Can’t Get Started” Stan Getz music
“Imagine” by John Lennon
“The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran
“A Christmas Carol”
Einstein’s Theories
quote by Kris Porto:  “Negativity never promotes success”
“Paradise Lost” by John Milton
“The Book of Galileo” to show the awesome physicality of God’s world and how science continues to discover truths of  God’s world.
“How Much Land Does a Man Need” by Leo Tolstoy
“Shaherazade” by Rimsky Korsakoff
“Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost
“Death be not Proud” by John Donne
“The Great Divorce” by C. S. Lewis
“The Little Prince” book
Serenity Prayer
US Constitution
US Bill of Rights
Native American folklore
“David and the Phoenix” children’s book I read in 6th grade, and then at 30, then at 60
“It’s a Wonderful Life” by Louis Armstrong
“4 Part Invention” by Madeleine L’Engle
The Golden Rule
The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320
writings of James Cavanaugh
“If” by Robert Frost
“Walking through woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
“How Do I Love Thee” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Tolle’s chapter on the sacredness of “now” and the call to humanity to experience     oneness with all creation (as the reality of the Divine)
“The Journey” by Billy Graham
“The Origin of the Species” by Charles Darwin
the Pledge of Allegiance, with “world” substituted for “nation”, “Lord” substituted for “flag”
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam
selective lost books of the Bible
“Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln
“All you Need is Love” by the Beatles
Joni Mitchell “Blue” album
“Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis
the book “Plainsong”
from the book “Left to Tell” by Immaculee Ilibaga (sp)—when God tells her, “You are
ALL my children.”
“The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch
“Zen or the Art of Archery”
Buber—I and Thou
“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff—and It’s All Small Stuff” book
“My Sister’s Keeper” book by Jodi Picoult
“The Rose” poem
Anchor Bible Dictionary, all 8+ volumes, sorry I couldn’t narrow it down
“The Life of Pi” book
the epic of Gilgamesh…
an annotation of “The Heart Aroused” by David Whyte
“Everyday” a song by Dave Matthews
“The Rite of Spring”
sing “Sing Me to Heaven”
“Twilight” book
“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”
passage:  Live everlasting and He saved us from death forever
Eckhart Tolle’s books “The Power of Now” or “Awakening to a New Earth”
“The Seven People You meet in Heaven” by Mitch Albom
“The Road Less Traveled” by Robert Frost
“The Promise” music by Secret Garden
Naomi Nye essay “Gate 54”
near death experience literature
Bette Midler song “From a Distance”
“A Peaceable Kingdom” a choral work
Annie Lamott’s on her religion (can’t remember the name)
“To Kill a Mockingbird”
“Siddhartha”
“Tao Te Ching”
“Eat, Pray Love”
“The Lord’s Prayer” by Charlotte Church
“All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” book

Music
“Amazing Grace”    x 6
“Imagine” by John Lennon    x4
“Wind Beneath my Wings” song    x 2
“Let It Be” by the Beatles    x 2
hymn “The Lord’s Prayer”
“Earth Song” by Frank Ticheli
Hendel’s Water Music
“Pastoral Symphony” by Beethoven
“Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin
“Jesus Loves Me”
“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”
Handel’s “Messiah”
sing “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings in D? minor”
“Teenage Wasteland” by The Who
“Let There be Peace on Earth”
“Left to Tell”, a non-fiction book about genocide in Rwanda
“Life with God” by Richard Foster
“May the Force be with You”—Star Wars
“New World Symphony” by Anton Dvorzak
song “Independence Day” by Elliot Sunth
chorus from U2 song “Gloria”
“Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin
“You Raise Me Up” song sung by Josh Groban
spirit music station 100.7
“I’ll follow you into the dark”—Death Cab for Cutie
“Halleluia” by Lenard Cohen (song)
“Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls
“I Will Sail My Vessel” song by Garth Brooks
“On Eagle’s Wings” song
“Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel
music Jesus sang with his disciples…(I don’t know if it exists)
in the garden
“I’m Already There” song by Lonestar
“My Guardian Angel” song
“I Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot
any Rascal Flatts CD
song “God Bless the Road” by Rascal Flatts
“Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne
melody of “Danny Boy”
song “The Wrestler”
song “The Prayer”
“Gravity” by John Mayer
Would want worshipful, soothing music to accompany text or teaching!
“Shrek” soundtrack
a song called “Hallelujah”
“Alive” by P.O.D.
“Time Turned Fragile” Motion City soundtrack
“Seize the Day” song by Caroline Ahrends?

Films/Video/Drama
“A Walk to Remember” movie    x 2
“O God” the movie
“The Ten Commandments” movie
Bryant Gumbal’s “Real Sports HBO” about young female basketball player from     Virginia Tech who loses all 4 limbs and prevails
movie “When Harry Met Sally”
movie “Fried Green Tomatoes”
“Twilight” book series
Star Wars
“Captain Abu Raed” Jordanian film 2009
“The Passion of the Christ” movie
movie “Pay It Forward”
“Places in the Heart” movie with Sally Fields
Bill Murray’s monolog in “Scrooged”
the musical “Wicked”

Visuals
“Starry Night” by Van Gogh
Mona Lisa by da Vinci
Georgia O’Keefe paintings
smiles
photographs

Other
ministry of Mother Theresa
the holocaust, to learn from it what man is capable of doing to fellow man, and to never     lose our way again
Nebraska football
grace
Amen!
Through faith in God all things are possible
“God is Our Refuge”
goodwill
great friends
Our hearts and heads when used to the glory of God, not for nurturing the negativity of     the world.  Praise and support of ideas, feelings and work create the strong backbone of the church.  Pointing fingers, criticism and self-absorption undermine the future.
Within each of us, at the center of our being, centered in the heart area is an access point     to the interconnectedness of all things, which is an awareness of the infinite, God.
Love
Moses
Great Day!
“The Bible 1.0 should not be taken literally but as stories to teach themed lessons
Some things I cannot change, but till I try I’ll never know.
sports
birth of our children