A troubled soul, the Christ of God – inspired by John 12: 20-33
1 A troubled soul, the Christ of God,
humanity exposed,
with all the turmoil that we feel,
when choices are proposed.
The monumental choice he faced,
the crisis must be met,
to take the path of love to death,
or turn away, forget.
2 The riddle of the grain of wheat
was told with fear and dread,
yet mention of new fruit gives hope
that God might raise the dead.
The loss of life, the gain of life
are tangled in this game,
yet those who live in love of God
are held within love's frame.
3 So Jesus chose and we must choose,
which path we are to take,
the one which will deny God's love
or cause the earth to quake.
God give us courage to deny
the self that harbours hate,
to trust in your eternal grace,
before it is too late.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2012 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: DCM
Tune: ELLACOMBE
Tag: loss
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
The Space Shuttle Columbia remembered – a hymn
The Space Shuttle Columbia – a hymn written at the time of its launch and explosion – remembered BBC 2 12/2/2024 - They reached for stars, beyond our grasp… written 4th February 2003.
1 They reached for stars, beyond our grasp,
they rode beyond the clouds,
we gazed in wonder, seized by awe,
now friends grasp empty shrouds.
2 A thousand searing fiery shards
had flared across the sky,
as crowds looked up in disbelief,
and framed the question 'Why?'
3 Can God be found amidst this loss?
Is love a present fact
when torn by pain, in misery,
we lack the power to act?
4 O God make known your presence now,
yes, show your boundless love
as through the tears and loneliness
we/they search the skies above.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) written 4th February 2003. Words © 2003 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: CM
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)
All Saints – All Souls – Remembrance
The 1st of November is All Saints Day; the 3rd All Souls Day. As we enter this period, culminating for many on the 11th November with Remembrance Day, and the 13th Remembrance Sunday, this hymn might be helpful for we who mourn, who remember those who have died.
Some churches will recognise All Souls this coming Sunday. This hymn was originally requested for remembrance of people who had died of kidney disease and later included in a book: Hymns of Hope and Healing.
The lives we mourn have known their share of heartache,
of human fear, uncertainty and shock,
and yet we also shared in love and laughter,
our memories hold solid as a rock;
for on through time remembrance will be treasured,
we'll keep it close when joy is tinged with pain,
we'll never lose the smiles that sign togetherness,
and day to day we know that love will still remain.
We never know what waits in life's uncertainty,
we never know what love, what joy, what fear,
can build us up, or leave us lost and comfortless,
afraid to face, again, the coming year,
yet here are people who can hold their hands with us,
can walk with us into the great unknown,
and so together we can walk the path of life,
and know that when we stumble love will still be shown.
So take my hand, my friend, my neighbour, walk with me,
together we can face the passing storm,
and know with God, in spite of tears and emptiness,
there is a sense that new love can be born.
In this we trust, for through our grief God held to us,
and human arms have caught us when we fell,
beyond this day each dawn will bring new hope for us
that through God's love and grace and care all will be well.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
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
Metre: 12 10 12 1012 10 12 12
Tune LONDONNERY AIR
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