Poems – Page 73 – hymnsandbooks

‘Is this the day’ – poem – reflection on Coronavirus inspired by thoughts of Simon Sutcliffe – link below

Is this the day that dawns today, when all the world stands still,
when human lives are challenged in their arrogant, self-will?
Is this a time to sound again the grace which from our youth
Has brought us to this point in time to face eternal truth?

We wonder at the rhythms of creation we observe,
the genesis of all we see, the laws we sense and serve,
yet when we read in scripture of the wonders of this course,
we tend to shut our eyes to one last day of rest at source.

Now is the moment action takes the place of hollow sighs,
the sighs that speak of emptiness, of loneliness and lies;
great God, within this Sabbath rest we question and explore,
is this a time when you recede, a tide drawn from the shore?

Now is a time of deep compassion, caring and concern,
when every person needs the love that money cannot earn.
This is a time when values shift and search for solid ground,
to put aside our selfishness to go where grace is found.

I have already found the political emphasis on economics in the face of the Coronavirus to be rather tiresome. Surely care of one another ought to be foremost and enabling the security of every person ought to take priority over all else.

This festive flight in tribute to David Attenborough’s reading of The Peregrine

This festive flight,
the Spirit offers wings
to every thought and prayer that ever was.
This soaring elegance
is all of God
yet brightly vicious
tearing pinions from its prey.
Falling from the sky the devil’s minion,
messenger of doom hurtles,
falls,
halts within a footfall of the soil
and lifts that rodent,
eyes afire with fear
that feels its final breath as lifted heavenward…
a final flight.

Rejoice, for things are as they are – a hymn in time of trouble

Rejoice, for things are as they are;
don’t flee as clouds that flow and drift
on wings of wind that shift and change;
God’s love will comfort, calm and lift.

For God is your celestial shield,
no cosmic power, nor human scheme
will separate you from that love
no matter how your terrors teem.

Your going out, your coming in
are safe, whatever, come what may.
You know the reason to rejoice
so sing God’s praise by night, by day.

Partly inspired by Psalm 121 and Romans 8 v38-39. Published in Reclaiming Praise, 2006, Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2003, 2006Stainer & 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: LM

See https://hymnsandbooks.blog/2020/03/12/hymns-in-a-time-of-pandemic/

Freedom is like elastic – Living Lent

Freedom is like elastic https://livinglent.org/the-world-sees-freedom-like-elastic/

Slow sailing – reflecting on aging

In age, so often, life, it seems,
is like a leaky boat.
Our forward progress slows and swings
with the tide,
its ebb and flow.
For want of caulking
bilges seep and timbers creak
with every swing and turn
but still we cut between the waves,
while tacking with the flow.
And though it may seem strange to some
who wish to race ahead,
the more I travel now, I think,
I’d rather travel slow.
The harbour will come soon enough,
to moor and come to rest,
for now a passage,
calm and slow,
would seem much better blessed.