Giver of life, of breath, of bread - Doug Constable
Giver of life, of breath, of bread,
from whose self-giving souls are fed,
from whom we learn the priceless worth
of every creature born on earth:
hear the poor prayers of aching hearts
weighed down by conscience-piercing darts;
for You command Your love’s good will:
no ifs no buts, Thou shalt not kill.
Self-sacrificing Christ, you grieve
both for the dead and folks who leave
their hearts at home, who take up guns,
who let bombs fall on helpless ones.
Spirit, whose strength springs fresh from High,
comfort all victims marked to die;
relieve each soul found in distress;
curb all who’d rather curse than bless.
On those, unmoved by war’s alarms,
who profit by the sale of arms,
drop fires of purging faith, to burn
all fears to ash in love’s safe urn.
Merciful God, Beginning, End,
Saviour-Redeemer, sinner’s friend,
war-ending Spirit, breathing peace:
weep with us till death-dealing cease ...
© Doug Constable 17.9 to 15.6.2024
Suggested tune: RIVAULX
Thank you Doug - sadly needful
Tag: comfort
Where the jackals scratch a living – hymn – prepare the way of the LORD
Isaiah 40:3 A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God”.
1 Where the jackals scratch a living,
in this wild, deserted place,
springs will bring refreshing water,
grass and reeds will sign God's grace.
2 Here our God will build a highway
striding out across the land,
bringing hope to what was barren,
once again the people stand.
3 Once again a smile is dawning
on the face of every man,
all the children play together,
women talk, it's time to plan.
4 As we tell, recount the story,
in this present time and place,
may we build in recollection,
room for hope and gracious space;
5 Space where God can offer comfort
through our human words and lives,
love that shows in every instance
faith can live and hope survives.
© Andrew Pratt Words © 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
Metre: 8 7 8 7
Tune: ALL FOR JESUS
For a continuing time of COVID – HYMN/PRAYER – When the weeping of the nations
When the weeping of the nations fills our hearts with holy dread, when a virus rings with pity those who cannot reach their dead, God is in our consternation, weeping by each sufferer’s bed. Distanced, lacking human comfort, no more in a mother’s arms, fearful faces peer through visors watching, even breathing harms, knowing only humane kindness brings the peace that heals, disarms. God bring strength in human weakness, give us grace that we might see through the mists of mortal blindness how to live through agony, how through quiet compassion, silence, we might mark our empathy. Andrew Pratt 31/12/2020 Words © 2021 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: PICARDY Metre: 87 87 87
Love matters for our future https://bramhallmethodists.org.uk/scienceandprayer/
Love matters for our future,
love founded in our past;
love woven through the present,
in hope that love will last.
This love is simply, human,
profoundly, love divine;
yet love can change another,
change lives like yours and mine
While we prefer the comfort
of minds akin to ours,
the gentle reassurance
of quiet refreshing hours;
in hell and not in heaven is
where the Christ is found,
the rough and trammeled pathway,
the trampled, bloodied ground.
But can we love another
and freely offer grace,
regardless of the neighbour
within our human race?
To always be uplifting,
to love and not condemn,
will model every person
as us and not as them.
Andrew Pratt 28/9/2019 – Science and the Language of Prayer. Written in response to Ruth Armstrong’s lecture. Seminar 1. Criminology.
Tune:AURELIA
Metre: 7.6.7.6D
Words © 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.
Jesus calls us to the chaos – hymn – ministry outside the camp
Jesus calls us to the chaos
that our hearts would fear to own,
places that are fraught and tortured,
only hurt and hatred known.
Jesus calls us to the desert,
wilderness of mental pain,
all perception seems distorted,
will we risk this stress and strain?
Jesus calls us out to meet him,
homeless, restless, lost alone,
all the future rung with sadness,
empty, heartless, cold as stone.
Jesus calls beyond the comfort
will the church stand still, or go?
Will we risk it, yet he beckons,
leave the safety that we know?
Andrew Pratt 21/3/2019
Words © 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.
Written for Peter Barber
hymnsandbooks 