Tag: women

Good Friday Hymn – Mid laughter and derision

Good Friday - Mid laughter and derision

      Mid laughter and derision,        
with mocking, mournful cry, 
see evil's quiet corruption, 
as people wander by. 
All dignity is fading, 
and life will ebb away, 
the Christ is hung on Friday, 
the powers have had their say. 
	
The women still stand watching, 
the men in fear have gone, 
the sky is cut with darkness, 
the sun will not shine on. 
In childlike resignation 
the Christ gives up his last,
indignity is finished, 
his suffering is past.
	
A soldier still stands silent, 
then falling to his knees, 
in quiet acclamation, 
adores the Christ he sees.
While Mary leaves unnoticed, 
a broken, crippled soul, 
the shadows hide her anguish, 
her grief will take control.
	
We sing the story sadly, 
we act the story well,
but now we leave forgetting
the truths it has to tell. 
God give us sense to grapple 
with powers that would defame
the Christ in one another, 
the hope we long to name.

Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2010 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:7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6
Tune: THORNBURY

iPad © Andrew Pratt

Susanna Wesley Anniversary Hymn 1

One of two hymns written for the Anniversary of the Birth of Susanna Wesley 350 years ago – 20th January 1669.
She was the mother of John and Charles Wesley.

The wisdom of women, so often determines
the paths that we take from the moment of birth;
both nature and nurture define through our growing:
a life hardly noticed or fame upon earth.

As parents we live out our lives through our children,
restraining, controlling or letting them grow;
demanding obedience, enabling their freedom,
or opening doors, simply letting them go.

The care and compassion received in the cradle
can influence choices and actions we take,
the growth of our faith, or our arrogant conflict,
the walls that we build, or the bridges we make.

From humble beginnings faith leaders are nurtured,
in just such a crib can a tyrant be found,
a mother or father can model commitment,
God’s graciousness planted in gently tilled ground.

And so we remember the strength of our parents,
their place in informing what we have become,
and those who through history have parented leaders
extending their influence through daughter or son.

Andrew Pratt 14/1/2019
Metre: 12.11.12.11
Tunes: ST CATHERIINES COURT; STREETS OF LAREDO
Words © 2019 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, http://www.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.