A hymn for a seeking faith inspired by Psalm 19 - The cosmic pulse
1 The cosmic pulse that beats through all creation,
two spinning stars, the pulsar's throbbing light;
these wing beats, not a passing aberration,
but angels thronging through the mists of night;
2 The whirling, dancing, trance that brings relation
with all that is and all that is to be;
the mystic, magic prayer, this wild elation
you say will bring the love to set us free;
3 Our language cannot offer a description:
Nirvana, heaven, call it what you will;
this other world that fires our inspiration
is all that conjures up the power to thrill.
4 The God we hymn, through praise and acclamation,
we seek to meet through words or bread and wine;
yet all the world inspires your incantation;
together let us fathom truth's design.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2002 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.
Metre: 11 10 11 10 Iambic
Tunes: HIGHWOOD; INTERCESSOR
From Whatever name or creed
Category: Bible
Hymn inspired by Mark 7: 24-30 – She felt just like a ragged dog
She felt just like a ragged dog - inspired by Mark 7: 24-30
1 She felt just like a ragged dog
that scratched around for food,
denied, despised and kicked aside
and never any good.
2 Yet now she stood inside the door
and pleaded with this man,
for each taboo had little weight,
her grief had wider span.
3 Her child had need of healing help
and she would make Christ hear,
the urgency of anguished need
had overcome her fear.
4 And in that moment he would learn,
audacity would teach
that human laws and well worn creeds
put no-one out of reach.
5 Compassion ruled and love compelled
to action on that day,
and Jesus' reach was broadened as
he learnt that grace held sway.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2012 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.
Metre: CM
Tune: ST PETER (How sweet the name of Jesus sounds)
Hymn inspired by Psalm 84 – God who walked this earth before us
Inspired by Psalm 84
God who walked this earth before us
God who walked this earth before us,
over mountains, by cool springs,
pictured in the poet's image:
soaring high on eagles’ wings:
we can never cage or capture
such a Spirit in her flight,
yet within a vaulted temple
people seek to praise your might.
'Neath its eaves, in arching timbers,
birds are nesting, swallows fly,
here where choirs will praise Your glory,
priests and people sing or cry.
While we worship in closed buildings,
shuttered from the world outside,
far beyond our tethered spirits,
Love is soaring, free to glide.
Words © 2015 © 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.
Tune: RUSSIAN AIR (Hymns for the People, 43; Jubilate); DIJON
Metre: 8.7.8.7
No peace for the Master – a hymn inspired by John 6:1-21 – Feeding of the multitude
No peace for the Master - July 28th John 6: 1-21
1 No peace for the Master, the people would follow,
for he had compassion for those who were lost,
then when he had healed them, and answered their questions,
he saw they were hungry, yet food had a cost.
2 Now Philip computed, they never could manage,
but Jesus was adamant, they must be fed.
What was there to feed them? A boy had come forward,
he offered two fishes and five loaves of bread.
3 The crowd were now seated and Jesus was ready,
he lifted his eyes, blessed the fish and the bread.
Miraculous feeding, five thousand were feasting,
O wonder of wonders, yet more lay ahead.
4 However we see it, God's power over nature;
a sharing of little so all can be fed;
this story still points to the person of Jesus,
for here God is present, God's nature is read.
Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2011 © 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.
Metre:12 11 12 11
Tune: STREETS OF LAREDO; ST CATHERINE’S COURT
On a Galilean hillside – hymn inspired by Mark 6: 30-34
On a Galilean hillside – July 21st – Mark 6: 30 – 34
1 On a Galilean hillside
stood a crowd with wondering eyes,
captivated by the mystery,
framed by mountain, sea and skies.
2 Jesus stood, and with compassion,
met their gaze and understood
depth of pain, and human anguish,
evil challenging their good.
3 What he said defied their senses,
challenged values, yet affirmed
those whom life had spurned or battered,
lifted them above the herd.
4 Now we stand, impassioned, waiting
for a word to cure our ill;
but he challenges complacence,
love is ours to share or still.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2002 © 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.
Metre: 8 7 8 7 Trochaic
Tune: WRAYSBURY (Hymns & Psalms 141)
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