Were You There?

Monday, April 7, 2025

Happy Monday, my friends! As we prepare for Palm Sunday and Holy Week next week, I’m thinking about a classic hymn and spiritual which we will likely hear, Were You There?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they said he couldn’t use the bathroom? [1]

Were you there when they said his history was divisive?

Were you there when they separated him from his parents?

Were you there when they revoked his visa and green card?

Were you there when they called him “illegal?”

Were you there when they flew him to a torture facility?

Were you there when they were restoring “sanity” by erasing him from existence?

Were you there when they disappeared him for opposing their policies?

Were you there when they called his art offensive?

Were you there when they sold his blessings for $1,000?

Were you there when they called him a terrorist?

Were you there when they took away his health care?

Were you there when they took away his legal counsel even though he was a child?

Were you there when they denied his creation and shouted “drill, baby, drill?”

Were you there when they used his words of love to justify their hate?

Were you there when He rose up from the dead?

Were you there when He rose up from the dead?

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

Were you there when He rose up from the dead?

Blessings on your weeks, my friends! Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Faithfully,

Ben

[1] I encourage you to read these verses rather than try to sing them. I didn’t write these verses to match the music.