Tag: weeping

Holy Innocents’ Sunday – 28th December – A hymn of lament

Holy Innocents’ Sunday – 28th December – A  hymn of lament recollecting Herod’s intention to kill all the young children to rid himself of his perception that Jesus, ‘King of the Jews’ was a threat to his rule.

1	The Prince of Peace has come to earth, 
	we celebrate Messiah’s birth,
	and yet the news is hung with fears,
	and all the world is wrung with tears.
	How long, O Lord, must children cry?
	How long, O Lord, must children die?

2	In Ramah voices once had wept, 
	in quiet children died, not slept,
	and Rachel wandered comfortless 
	consumed by death and deep distress.
	How long, O Lord, must children cry?
	How long, O Lord, must children die?

3	And in a later time a place, 
	a squalid stable formed the space 
	in which a little boy was born 
	that all the powers of earth would scorn.
	How long, O Lord, must children cry?
	How long, O Lord, must children die?

4	The Prince of Peace has come to earth, 
	we celebrate Messiah’s birth,
	and yet we slaughter once again, 
	will death and carnage still remain.
	How long, O Lord, must children cry?
	How long, O Lord, must children die?

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2014 © 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: MOZART


God is crying mid the carnage – a hymn at the time of Ukrainian Christmas

God is crying mid the carnage 
of a thousand broken bones; 
in the dust and fallen rubble 
of our long discarded homes.
 
Where our children play out stories 
of the visions they have seen, 
God is weeping over losses, 
knowing just what might have been.
 
What if love instead of horror 
filled the passion of our lives, 
could these stories be re-written 
where humanity survives?
 
God still with us, God among us, 
sow new seeds of love through grace; 
help us look at one another 
building hope in every place.
Andrew Pratt (8/1/2023)

Words © 2023 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
Tunes: CROSS OF JESUS (Stainer); LAUS DEO (Redhead)

Written after listening to the BBC Radio 4 Sunday Service on 8/1/2023 ‘The message that Ukraine is trying to convey to the world as it celebrates its own Christmas Day’.

The programme posed the question, 'Where is God' in this war?

See also We hear the news in anguish
- Thoughts on pacifism
- God's on our side