In simple, suffering love
a man looks down, on all the world
as empathetic tears drench cheeks that child-like,
once had filled with laughter.
The shadows lengthen,
heighten the beam’s intersection,
as muscles, taut with strain crack, as a whip,
and feel the course of pain.
Finished? Is it finished?
But still the thunder grumbles
and lightning slashes dark and cloud.
A drift of rain disperses yet a diminishing crowd.
© Andrew Pratt 2024
Here on the crest of the wave of creation
Here on the crest of the wave of creation,
roaring and rolling beyond time and place;
God is transforming through quiet resurrection,
challenging hopelessness, offering grace.
Now we will follow the steps that will lead us
on through the horrors and hatred of life,
on through the angst ridden pain of bereavement,
on through the cross to the ending of strife.
Here at faith's edge where our peace is beginning,
God soaring free through our chaos and pain,
here is the meaning of loving and living,
here is the place of our rising again.
Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2008 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
Tune: EPIPHANY HYMN
Watercolour and Luminar © Andrew Pratt
On Maundy Thursday copyright Andrew Pratt 2024
Mark 8:31
8:31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Hymn: All the pain and hurt and horror
1 All the pain and hurt and horror,
loss, denial and mistrust,
hovered round as Jesus waited
for his friends to re-adjust.
Lost within misunderstanding:
thought that love was just a dream,
knew that it would be so easy,
they're confounded by Love's scheme.
2 Jesus taught that love would conquer
only through integrity,
that the way his life was pointing
tested his humanity.
Jesus felt that Peter's challenge
undermined his purpose here,
spoke quite harshly, underlining,
made his need both plain and clear.
3 Death was now the final action,
Jesus spelt out to his friends.
To them this was not expedient,
not the way Messiah ends.
Love would be denied if actions
led to violence or defence,
Jesus, lamb led to the slaughter,
death the cost of Love's expense.
Andrew Pratt 8/2/2012 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: LUX EOI
Metre: 8.7.8.7D
After Easter some people were walking to Emmaus talking about all that had happened. Jesus, unrecognised, walked beside them. Only when they reached their destination and asked Jesus to join them for a meal did they recognise him – when he broke bread. This hymn reflects on the all-pervasive nature of the message of resurrection, that of creation and re-creation, only in the last verse bringing us to Emmaus. It is for communion, or any other meal. Fred Kaan once pointed out that ‘companion’ means ‘with bread’. Way out beyond the reaches of the cosmos, through strands, like smoke, of interstellar cloud, our God is moving, forming, re-creating, each image speaks the name of God, out loud. It seems this God will nurture like a mother, the power of love embodies life and light. This love transcends succeeding generations, brings comfort in the darkness of death's night. Companion God in breaking bread together we meet with you as we met on the way, a friendly God you still make peace between us, as sharing meals we meet with you each day. Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) Words © 2014 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 Tune: O PERFECT LOVE : :
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