greed – hymnsandbooks

Remembrance – Once crimson poppies bloomed out in a foreign field

Once crimson poppies bloomed
out in a foreign field,
each memory reminds
where brutal death was sealed.
The crimson petals flutter down,
still hatred forms a thorny crown.

For in this present time
we wait in vain for peace;
each generation cries,
each longing for release,
while war still plagues the human race
and families seek a hiding place.

How long will human life
suffer for human greed?
How long must race or pride,
wealth, nationhood or creed
be reasons justifying death
to suffocate a nation’s breath?

For everyone who dies
we share a quiet grief;
the pain of loss remains,
time rarely brings relief:
and so we will remember them
and heaven sound a loud amen.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) Words © 2012 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: 6 6 6 6 8 8 Tune: LITTLE CORNARD

Hymn at a time when people feel excluded – God, save us from the platitudes

God values all – Joel 2: 28 – 29 – hymn at a time when people feel excluded. The prophet Joel said: 
28 Then afterwards I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

1	God, save us from the platitudes, 
	the empty prayers and hollow praise
	that blind us to hypocrisy
	of every thoughtless word or phrase.
	O take us, mend us, make us one 
	until your work on earth is done. 
	
2	When pride and selfishness demand
	our rights when others suffer hurt,
	when greed and use of wealth exploit
	and push our neighbours in the dirt
	yes, take us, mend us, make us one 
	until your work on earth is done. 
	
3	Within a world of fear-built walls 
	of colour, social class or creed,
	God, help us look with Christ-lit eyes
	for Christ within another's need;
	O, take us, mend us, make us one 
	until your work on earth is done. 
	
4	O God of fundamental grace 
	in which your church has grown and stands,
	great God of self-denying love 
	may hatred die in every land.
	Yes, take us, mend us, make us one 
	until your peace on earth is won.
	
5	Then graceful hospitality
	may welcome angels unaware,
	until your all inclusive love
	spans though all time, is everywhere,
	for by your grace we now are one,
	your hope is gained, your work is done.

Andrew E 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: 8 8 8 8 8 8
Tune: ABINGDON

People that manage, manipulate markets – Luke 16:1-13

This hymn reflects on the lectionary Gospel reading for this coming Sunday – Luke 16:1-13

People that manage, manipulate markets, 
using their skills just to maximise gain. 
This is the focus that holds their attention, 
working for profit, their purpose is plain.


Stewards work hard for their own satisfaction, 
building on networks of interest and need, 
moulding, with passion, each new situation, 
earning is motive and profit is creed.


How single-minded is our Christian service?
Can we see Christ there in poverty's face?
What is our vision, our main motivation, 
selfish enhancement, or self-giving grace.

© Andrew Pratt 3/9/2013 Please include on your CCL return

Words © 2013 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.

Tunes: STEWARDSHIP; LIEBSTER IMMANUEL, ST NINIAN (Dykes)

Metre: 11.10.11.10

While the nations guard their borders,

While the nations guard their borders, 
cherished cultures, ways of life,
people struggle for survival,
children die while fleeing strife. 
Can we hear with calm acceptance 
what the news has got to tell?
Can we claim to follow Jesus 
while the world drifts into hell?


Hell is where there’s no more loving, 
close at hand, not out of sight, 
what we make denying others 
grace of love, or hope of light.
When compassion’s drained and stranded, 
voices might as well be dumb
human cries that we’ve avoided 
fall on ears both blocked and numb.


Christ is calling in each murmur, 
in each whisper framing need, 
silence louder than God’s thunder, 
loud enough to quell our greed;
yet we close our ears, our senses, 
dreading every troubling fact,
lest we feel the pain of others 
forcing us to rise and act.

©Andrew Pratt
26/11/2021

Hymn responding to Greta Thunberg ahead of and following COP 26 – Blue planet, rising, soaring through the cosmos – Now with a new tune by Frances S. Drake

Blue planet, rising, soaring through the cosmos,
was lent in trust for us to tend and care
while children, young in wisdom, call in anguish,
for all they see now fills them with despair.
The wonder of the sky has drawn us upwards,
our eyes diverted by the moon and stars,
and as we dream we lose our moral compass,
and in our greed we grasp creation, call it ours.

Time runs away, our life on earth is finite,
young prophets calling, needing us to act
are crying out, lamenting for our planet,
while ‘adults’ sleep, denying fear and fact.
Still others stand, immune, ignore the future,
absolved from fault for all that comes to pass.
When will we grasp the need for urgent action,
see clearly, not net curtained, or through frosted glass?

While sands of time run down, are gone and finished,
in fear of change we hanker for the past,
but life on earth is threatened by inaction,
as lethargy and greed resist and last.
Good God forgive us for each fault and faction,
unwillingness to change to save this earth.
God give us ears to hear the words of wisdom
that we might save this planet, cradle of our birth.

Andrew Pratt 29/10/2021 – Responding to Greta Thunberg
ahead of and following COP 26.

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.
Metre: 11.10.11.10.11.10.11.12
Tune: BLUE PLANET RISING; LONDONDERRY AIR