Lament: When anger is our highest creed
Our news invariably seems to have images of war. For those who grieve, on whatever ‘side’, Psalm 137 may give them, or us, voice. It is often missing from our worship. Some may remember ‘By the rivers of Babylon’ by Boney M. Halfway through the song they change to Psalm 19: ‘May he words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight…’. Perhaps Psalm 137 is seen as too violent, not Christian. But when we have suffered at the hands of others, when we grieve, lament is legitimate. Then it is understandable to use Psalm 137 in its entirety. And so I want to sing in solidarity with people in places of war and degradation…these words were inspired by the spirit of that Psalm.
1 When anger is our highest creed,
revenge the motivating force;
God, understand our depth of hurt,
our need for action, not just thought.
2 Ejected from what makes us safe,
familiar ground and well-known names,
we sicken for the things we've seen,
all sense of hope and courage drains.
3 We cannot celebrate our faith,
and faith lacks meaning, all is lost;
for nothing is as it once was,
we cannot ever bear the cost.
4 So, God, what should we do or say?
What is there left of love or life?
What mitigating cause or plea
will rid us of this pain of strife?
5 Amid our sense of grief and loss
where nothing now can be the same,
stand in the midst of shattered faith;
rebuild, renew, and raise again.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2001 Stainer & Bell Ltd
Words © 2001 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: LM
Tune: PLAISTOW
Tag: hurt
A Hymn for Lent 2 – All the pain and hurt and horror
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
A hymn in a shattering, divided world…perhaps?
Reflecting on the world in which we live, what can we, should we sing?
Hymns should at least allow for the expression of everything to which the Psalms give voice. And I am including those words over which we tend to be rather squeamish. This interpretation of Psalm 137 was attributed to John Donne but was probably written by Francis Davison (circa 1633-69):
Happy, who, thy tender barnes
From the armes
Of their wailing mothers tearing,
'Gainst the walls shall dash their bones,
Ruthless stones
With their braines and blood besmearing.
[Donne, J., The Poems of John Donne, Edit. H.J.C. Grierson, Oxford 1912, p426].
And why should I want to sing this or anything even distantly emotionally related to it? Because sometimes that is how I feel and the Psalms testify to the fact that God can cope with us feeling like that.
Not finding such a hymn in my own denomination’s hymn book at the turn of the millennium, and reflecting on the plight of refugees, I wrote these words. And are they, perhaps, redolent of those of opposing opinions, experiencing hatred and fear, in our world, in our countries today?
1 When anger is our highest creed,
revenge the motivating force;
God, understand our depth of hurt,
our need for action, not just thought.
2 Ejected from what makes us safe,
familiar ground and well-known names,
we sicken for the things we've seen,
all sense of hope and courage drains.
3 We cannot celebrate our faith,
and faith lacks meaning, all is lost;
for nothing is as it once was,
we cannot ever bear the cost.
4 So, God, what should we do or say?
What is there left of love or life?
What mitigating cause or plea
will rid us of this pain of strife?
5 Amid our sense of grief and loss
where nothing now can be the same,
stand in the midst of shattered faith;
rebuild, renew, and raise again.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2001 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: LM
Tunes: PLAISTOW; KEDRON(Dare)
Kyries for Holy Innocents – Herod’s high and mighty stand
1 Herod's high and mighty stand Showed the power at his command, Slaughtered children in the land: Kyrie, Lord have mercy, Kyrie, Lord have mercy, Kyrie, Lord have mercy on us. 2 Mary wept, she understood, Wept as every mother should, Ramah's echo, death to good: Chorus 3 Surely force has had its day, Brutish whim and power's display; Yet our actions hurt betray: Chorus 4 Seen on every paper's page, Words of hate and fists of rage, Signs of greed in every age: Chorus 5 Anger still inflicts the pain, Each excuse is seen as lame, Yet again we bear the shame: Chorus 6 Till through this and every time People cease from heinous crime, Till with peace their actions rhyme: Chorus VERSION IN SONGS FOR A NEW MILLENIUM (7 7 7 D and refrain) 1 Herod's high and mighty stand Showed the power at his command, Slaughtered children in the land: Mary wept, she understood, Wept as every mother should, Ramah's echo, death to good: Kyrie, Lord have mercy, Kyrie, Lord have mercy, Kyrie, Lord have mercy on us. 2 Surely force has had its day, Brutish whim and power's display; Yet our actions truth betray: Seen on every paper's page, Words of hate and fists of rage, Signs of greed in every age: Kyrie, Lord have mercy, Kyrie, Lord have mercy, Kyrie, Lord have mercy on us. 3 Anger still inflicts the pain, Each excuse is seen as lame, Yet again we bear the shame: Till through this and every time People cease from heinous crime, Till with peace their actions rhyme: Kyrie, Lord have mercy, Kyrie, Lord have mercy, Kyrie, Lord have mercy on us. Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) From: Whatever name creed, No.28 (1999) & Songs for the new millennium. Words © 1999, 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: HOLY INNOCENTS (Ian Sharp) Whatever name creed, No.28
Hymn for Holocaust Memorial Day – 27th January
1 Deep contradictions, not cosy solutions, come when our faith and experience collide. Pain and its purpose, the holocaust's image, loving and hurting, are found side by side. 2 Here in the tension of unresolved conflict, logic and passion will vie for each heart; here in life's crucible, melting and moulding, God has a purpose and we play a part. 3 Here, where the spirit is forging, transforming lives that are open to challenge and change; God in each paradox fathoms potential, source of the pattern we measure and range. 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
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