We live in times of crime and violence
where guns and knives would seem to rule;
incarceration offers respite,
is prison now the only school?
We learn so slowly in this era,
how we should nurture love and care.
For still we model cold derision,
with disrespect, derisive stare.
Our politicians rage and stumble,
as racists bawl across the street,
then disagreements twist and tangle,
with language coarse and indiscreet.
God give us grace and apt discretion,
the skill of choosing words that skirt
around each tempting confrontation,
give words that calm instead of hurt.
Words (including alternatives below) © 2019 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, http://www.stainer.co.uk.
Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Tune: ST CLEMENT (Scholefield)
Metre 9.8.9.8
The original first verse of this text is as follows and can be used if wished:
We live in sharp infested waters,
the law of Cain would seem to rule,
incarceration offers respite,
is prison now the only school?
In the second stanza, first line ‘era’ can be replaced with ‘country’.
At a time when knife and gun crime are rife this text may be seen to be pertinent either as a poem or a hymn.
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