Tag: prophetic

At the census in the city – We welcome Christmas Day

1	At the census in the city, 
	at the crossing place of life, 
	where the homeless and abandoned 
	share the scars of human strife; 
	mid the rubble and the ruins 
	shedding God's prophetic light
	see, a star is softly shining 
	through the horror of the night.

2	In the cross of shifting shadows 
	see a mother and her child, 
	see the wetness of his features, 
	freshly born, so not yet filed. 
	In a world of cold statistics 
	yet another mouth to feed, 
	for the parents' love holds tension 
	with a calling, crying need.

3	So from Bethlehem in history 
	to this present place and time, 
	God has entered human anguish, 
	sung in tune to human rhyme; 
	yes, the baby that we welcome, 
	yes, the Christ of Palestine, 
	are as one, we seal remembrance 
	in a feast of bread and wine. 	
        [signature of love's design.]* 

4	For the ruin of the manger, 
	this prefig'ring of the cross, 
	offers Christ as our relation 
	in our chaos and our loss, 
	puts the Christ into the present, 
	places God in human hands, 
	tests our loving and our living 
	here in this and every land.

*for use when there is no communion

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
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: 8 7 8 7 D
Tunes: BETHANY (Smart); ABBOTS LEIGH

Hymn responding to Prof John Evans’ Seminar for Bramhall Methodist Church Climate Change Series

Prof John Evans
Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Southampton

To work with God we need to learn 
each nuance of this earth, 
the way the planet shifts and moves,  
its treasures, all their worth.
We search out every finite source, 
yet sometimes lack the care 
to measure out just what we need, 
to leave some resting there.

And now we start to comprehend 
not just this worldly wealth,
but how its use can build, enhance, 
or damage earthly health;
not just the strength of humankind, 
but climate’s synergy, 
the balance on which life depends 
for its vivacity.

So now we learn to understand 
the calling of our race, 
to stand in watch, to call and act, 
within each time and place; 
not just renewing white bleached bones 
or raising dead to life, 
but clothing every word with love, 
where hatred once was rife.

7/6/2021 Andrew Pratt
Words © 2021 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: CMD
Tune: KINGSFOLD

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