hymnsandbooks

Filled with fear may love surround us

Filled with fear may love surround us

Filled with fear may love surround us,

spirit ground us, in that love,

drench us with this expectation

here on, earth not just above.

May each day extend a welcome,

open hands and open hearts,

open homes that offer shelter,

love that never more departs.

God enfold us, always hold us,

may our human love extend

’til all people, every nation

know your love can never end.

Words: Andrew Pratt (born 1948) © 18 August 2026 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.

Metre: 8.7.8.7 Tune: ALL FOR JESUS

Beyond the crime of crippled conversation…in spite of degradation

Beyond the crime of crippled conversation

1	Beyond the crime of crippled conversation, 
	that thunders when diplomacy is dead, 
	a still small voice will whisper in the darkness 
	dispelling what was once a living dread.

2	Here love, like feathers, scatters in a moment, 
	the breeze of war is reaching hatred’s height, 
	yet love is not forgotten or extinguished, 
	still bids us walk within the dying light.

3	And dawn will come again, another morning, 
	to shed its colours on a new found way, 
	and hope will rise in spite of degradation, 
	and still our praise will wake this dancing day.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2016 Stainer and Bell Ltd., London, England, 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.

Watercolour © Andrew Pratt

From the Bridge (Bridge 196 Trent & Mersey Canal) Marbury Park, Northwich (updated 29 January 2026)

A series of photos taken from Bridge 196 over the Trent & Mersey Canal at various seasons over a few years. All © Andrew Pratt 2026

Thank you to the Canal & River Trust for maintaining this beautiful place

Thoughts on how we use language – the need for listening and empathy

If we share a common humanity what matters in terms of how language is used is not what we think is affirming or hurtful BUT how those being addressed, or described, receive what is being said.

If I feel affirmed or put down by how I am named or described that is real for me, however the person addressing me feels about what they are saying.

Empathy and listening is needed before we condemn changes in language that we might see as ‘fashionable’ or unnecessary.

All of this ought to apply to our day to day conversation as we recognise the common humanity we share with one another, whatever name, creed, gender, orientation, self-identification or other criteria.

It is equally important in public documents and conversation, politically, in religious worship and in every other sphere

The key word in all of this is simply KINDNESS.

A time to reconsider – a hymn inspired by Matthew 4:12-23

A time to reconsider – inspired by Matthew 4:12-23

1	A time to reconsider, 
	to pause, to reassess;
	when crisis comes with challenge, 
	how can God come to bless?
	And yet a light is shining, 
	we cannot understand 
	that at this time of turning 
	God sharpens what we planned.
	
2	As Jesus felt the tension,
	while John slept in a cell, 
	the challenge was beginning 
	and he would sound the knell.
	Now in our time the echo 
	reverberates with fear, 
	and will we face our challenge
	of bringing justice near?
	
3	To face the grief and sorrow, 
	to live with scorn and hate, 
	to live love undiluted 
	before it is too late?
	A time to reconsider, 
	to pause, to reassess;
	when crisis comes with challenge, 
	how can God come to bless?

Andrew Pratt (born 1948) based on Isaiah 9 vs 1- 4 and Matthew 4 vs 12-23
Words Andrew Pratt © 2010 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@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.
v.2 l.8 alt by the author 2026
Metre: 7 6 7 6 D
Tune: CRUGER

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