Christian
“It’s No Secret (What God Can Do)” [Elvis Presley]
“Let There Be Peace on Earth (and Let It Begin with Me)” [Vance McGill]
“Pass It On”
“Shine Jesus Shine!”
Ecumenical or Interfaith
“One Little Candle”
“Morning Hath Broken” [Cat Stevens]
"Many Gifts, One Spirit"
Secular
“Give Peace a Chance” [John Lennon]
“I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” [The New Seekers]
“Stand by Me” [Andy, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora]
“Tell Me Why (Does It Have to Be Like This)”
“We Shall Overcome” [Joan Baez]
“We Shall Overcome” with some lyrics in Farsi [Joan Baez]
“White Cliffs of Dover” [Jim Reeves]
I began writing this song when I was in high school. I finished writing it three decades later. This song recognizes that war is sometimes necessary, but the focus of this song is on moral courage. The moral courage to step back from the brink of war is a pressing need for our time. I also hope that this song serves to encourage those who are now engaged in our present struggle to elect to Congress men and women with the level of moral courage that inspired John F.Kennedy to write his famous book Profiles in Courage.
“Profiles in Courage”
Written by Jerry Mills
I’m looking down almost literally
Into my deep and open grave;
A single breath from my trembling lips
Can ruin me or it can save;
Should I deny my God for this
Or should my words be true?
Profiles in courage who have gone before
Have shown me just what I should do…
For every freedom that the free enjoy
Was bought with blood and sweat and tears,
Relentless toiling by courageous souls
Who risked their lives and their careers;
They placed their trust in Providence
And not in wealth or fame;
Profiles in courage standing for the right,
For when their duty called, they came.
God’s peace is in the darkest cell;
His love can heal a troubled land;
When men and women follow in His steps,
His might can stay the tyrant’s hand;
One man with courage sometimes makes
A clear majority;
Profiles in courage risking all they had,
They gave that others may be free.
I wrote this song during the first Gulf War, out of concern for the men and women who served there. It's a reminder of the personal costs of war.
“The Maiden’s Prayer”
Written by Jerry Mills
When the bugles called
The brave young men to arms,
She said, “Each night I’ll pray
The Lord will protect you from harm;
For many men will die in battles over there;
When the fighting is done,
May the Lord bring you home
And answer a maiden’s prayer,
Every day she waits
For someone over there,
And every night in faith,
She kneels at her bedside in prayer;
She prays the Lord above
Will keep him in His care;
And she lifts up her face
To the One filled with grace
And whispers a maiden’s prayer.
Now the war is through
And battlefields are still;
And men are coming home,
But some of the men never will;
Loved ones weep for joy,
But some weep in despair;
Will he come home again?
Is she yearning in vain
When she whispers a maiden’s prayer.
Every day she waits
For someone over there,
And every night in faith,
She kneels at her bedside in prayer;
She prays the Lord above
Will keep him in His care;
And she lifts up her face
To the One filled with grace
And whispers a maiden’s prayer.
There upon the hill
Across the fields of green,
All silhouetted there,
Against the blue sky he is seen!
Warmly they embrace
And promise then and there,
By the love in their hearts,
Nevermore will they part;
God had answered a maiden’s prayer.
