A little memento can move us to tears – the saints we remember
A little memento can move us to tears,
a memory can surface along with its fears,
the past is still with us, and scars are so raw,
while hope can seem absent on life's barren shore.
The life that has ebbed has left marks on our lives,
while love is still present some hope still survives.
The treasure of saints in each era and age,
is loving, while living upon the earth's stage.
And these we remember, each person, each life,
the good they engendered, their solace in strife;
the warmth of a hand, or the smile of a face,
their presence a channel of God given grace.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words Andrew Pratt © 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: 11 11 11 11
Tune: DATCHET
All Saints Day revolves around "giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints", including those who are "famous or obscure".
Tag: value
Giver of life, of breath, of bread – a hymn by a friend who describes it as ‘perennially topical’
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
Great prophet of pity – A hymn inspired by Romans 12: 1-8
Great prophet of pity - A hymn inspired by Romans 12: 1-8 Great prophet of pity, subversive in love, unsettle our comfort, divert and reprove; that, moved from self-interest, and shielded from pride, we might yet embody the gifts of your bride. O raise up your people and fit them to care for all who are lonely or lost in despair. The reed that is bending, the wick that burns low, through grace and persistence, God, help them to grow. From each generation, race, colour or creed, Christ, gather together, united by need, the ones that you value, and God, may we find, in spite of ourselves that your welcome is kind. 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: 11 11 11 11 Tune: ST DEINIO
All of us are valued by God…a hymn…This goal of equality
All of us are valued by God – Matthew records these words of Jesus: 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. And a hymn… This goal of equality laid out before us, where each one is valued and no-one denied, is given, through loving, to those who will listen, yet, while we should welcome, we often deride. We look at our neighbours and judge by appearance: the colour of skin or the cadence of voice, the cut of a jacket or youthful confusion, while prejudice beckons our ultimate choice. Yet love would compel to see Christ clothe our neighbour, the ragged and ugly gain elegant grace; enabling discernment, refined understanding: the future is present and all have a place. Andrew Pratt 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; 12 11 12 11 Tune: ST CATHERINE’S COURT
A time for decisions – a hymn – What are the gifts we would treasure most highly
John Wesley once referred to the Methodists as ‘a peculiar people’. One of our peculiarities is treating September as the beginning of a New Year.
At another level we live in a world in conflict and, in the UK with a government with a new Prime Minister.
All of us together are faced with decisions.
At a time of decision for the people of Israel Moses challenged them – ‘I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live’. (Deuternomy30: 19)
The following hymn asks what choosing life might mean for us today.
1 What are the gifts we would treasure most highly:
freedom or justice or money or wealth;
food for the hungry, or drink for the thirsty,
love for our children, or power, or health?
2 Once God had given a choice to the people:
they could decide to choose life or choose death.
They were encouraged towards life's enhancement,
shunning the ways that would quench life and breath.
3 What does it mean for ourselves at this moment,
challenged by God, as to what we should choose?
What does ‘life’ mean, for each friend, for each neighbour,
what will encourage and never abuse?
4 Now at each crisis, each time of decision,
save us from selfishness, things that oppress;
help us, O God, to be wise, never grasping,
help us to cherish those things you would bless.
Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2011 alt by the author 2022 © 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.
alt 2022 by the author.
Metre: 11 10 11 10
Tune: EPIPHANY HYMN
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