Creating a Bouquet along the aisle

I heard about this idea the other day when I popped into St Michael's church office and I thought that it sounded rather lovely. At a wedding, instead of the bride having a bouquet that has been made earlier, single flowers are given to people in the congregation, and as she walks up the aisle the bride picks them up until she has a whole bouquet. I like the level of interaction in the idea and the fact that (potentially) everyone has something to give to the ceremony. (Although in practice, unless the congregation were a small one, I imagine that you would have to somehow confine yourself to the people nearest the aisle, unless the congregation could spread out like a guard of honour). 

Often what makes the difference between a creative worship idea that works and one which doesn't is thinking through the logistical difficulties in advance and solving the practical problems in order to help the worship run smoothly. Having a person to check ideas with will often flag up these difficulties that you haven't spotted so that you can solve them before everything goes pear-shaped. 

Inspiration and Psalm 30

At the last service planning meeting I was delegated to go find a nice dance track to chant psalm 30 on top of. We've been playing around with chanting psalms over funky tracks lately. It seems to work really well, as long as you use a really simple chant (we're not talking Anglican chant here!) and a really nice backing track. I was very excited to realise that not only did psalm 30 work with the Paradise remix of Ian Van Dahl's Inspiration but also that the words to inspiration itself fit the theme of the service, which is Jairus' daughter (its available on itunes and you can listen to it on Spotify but over there it seems to be mislabelled as the Peter Luts remix...which it aint!)

So here is our version of psalm 30. Tune-wise, you come in when the bass line starts, and start singing on an A, then when you get to the capital words sing them on the next note up (a B), then for the 2nd line of the psalm sing that on the E (5 notes below) go up to an F sharp for the bold word on the 2nd line and then back to the E for the end of that line. Its quite hard to explain but actually just do it, if it sounds nice then who cares if its not the way I do it! The rhythm is the rhythm of the words itself.Sing it as you would say it!

Anyway here we go (as you can see we stopped for a while in the middle when the tune came in and then came back with more of the psalm later).

Psalm 30

I will lift You UP O GOD
Because you have raised ME up

And have not let ALL OF MY ENEMIES
Triumph oVER me.

You brought me BACK FROM THE DEAD
Back to life from the deep DARK pit

Sing to God You SERVANTS OF HIS
Give thanks to His hoLY name.

For his anger is GONE IN AN INSTANT
His favour lasts A lifetime

Weeping may enDURE FOR THE NIGHT
But joy comes in THE morning.

***When your dreams are lost and blown away
And you need someone to make your day

If there comes a time when hope is gone
and you need some help to carry on.
I'll be your inspiration.
I'll be your inspiration.
I'll be your inspiration.
I'll be your inspiration.***

When I felt seCURE I SAID
I shall never BE moved

You Lord in Your GOODNESS AND FAVOUR
Have made me strong like A mountain

Then when You hid your FACE FROM ME
I was utterly DISmayed

To You, O LORD DID I CALL
I cried out to God FOR mercy.

What profit is THERE IN MY DEATH
If I go down to THE pit.

Will the dead dust be PRAISING YOU.
Will it tell of Your faithFULness

***When your dreams are lost and gone away
And you need someone to make your day
Here there comes a time when hope is gone
And you need some help to carry on
I'll be your inspiration.
I'll be your inspiration.
I'll be your inspiration. ***

Hear me God have MERCY ON ME
Oh Lord be MY helper.

You have turned my MOURNING TO DANCING
My sackcloth to clothes OF joy.

Therefore my heart will NEVER STOP SINGING
I'll give You thanks FOR ever.

Therefore my heart will NEVER STOP SINGING
I'll give You thanks FOR ever.

***When you look into my eyes
You can see there's no disguise
Don't be afraid to need someone
You don't have to be alone.
Don't be afraid to need someone
You don't have to be alone. ***

Glory to the Father AND TO THE SON
And glory to THE Spirit.

As it was in the begINNING IS NOW
And shall be for ever. AAmen.

Brilliant Intercessions footage

I've just discovered "your chance to live: Earthwatch 1972" whilst having a good scout around the Prelinger video archive which contains many public domain movies. Its got some brilliant footage for intercessions etc. (tsunamis, earthquakes, forest fires etc). This particular footage needs a good edit however before it is actually used in a service! The really good stuff starts at least halfway through so be patient.
http://www.archive.org/details/YourChan1972

More Jon Hopkins

I've just bought the new Jon Hopkins album, which came out (I think) at the end of last year. Its called "insides" and there are a number of blissful ambient background tracks on there. The best of the bunch is "light through the veins" which you will probably recognise because Coldplay sample it. The worst track on the album is "insides" which is one of those "death by cheesegrater" tracks. If you're downloading the album as separate tracks I'd give that one a miss! The last section of "Vessel" also ends up being rather reminiscent of the cheese grater too, which is a shame because the first half of the track is very beautiful. Anyway my advice is check it out, but listen to the tracks before you buy, as you might not want to buy all of them.

Hello Waveforms (and Bono)

I bought some more William Orbit today, via a kind of roundabout route.

While everyone else recently has been arguing about whether they like Alexandra Burke, Jeff Buckley or Cohen's orginal "Hallelujah" I accidentally stumbled across Bono's version (which I discovered because some journalist was slagging it off somewhere!) While he was throwing around his snide comments, he posted the link to the Youtube file and I decided that I liked it better than all the others.

The reason that I particularly liked it was that it wasn't trying to be a cover. Bono was trying to do something different with the iconic song, to pay homage to the original rather than blindly copy it. Anyway I couldn't find it on the itunes store, and so had to get it on Amazon (on an album called "Tower of Song" which has some other tributes which may also be interesting). Because I could get free delivery if I also bought some other music, I decided to check out Hello Waveforms by Willliam Orbit. You can hear the preview on Williamorbit.com, and its very lovely. He has returned to an updated version of his Strange Cargo style, and there are loads of tracks that I'd be very happy to use to back prayers and liturgies. Its just lovely blissful chillout (although there are lyrics on some of the tracks so you can't use them all). I was surprised to hear him use Autotune on his vocalist's voice though. I thought he'd be averse to that sort of thing! Anyway check out "Hello Waveforms", you might like it!

Morphing Jesus

So many people recently have commented on how powerful they have found the morphing images of Christ. Here is the link to Jonny Baker's blog posting about it.

Here is the file itself

Jeff Cardoni

I've just been watching CSI Miami and I was struck by the music that they were playing as Alex leaves. Sometimes a track sticks out as being something special and it made my ears prick up. So I did a bit of searching around and discovered that the track was specially written by Jeff Cardoni, who has written quite a bit of music for CSI and other series. He has his own website (Jeffcardoni.com) and you can hear the piece "Farewell to Alex" on there. But he also has quite a few pieces available on the itunes store too.

Enjoy!

Sue

Moses Story.

This story is based on the old testament reading for this Sunday. Hopefully it speaks for itself....

Moses story.

I was a refugee really, and it was my own fault. Once upon a time I had had it all. I was adopted by the Pharaoh's daughter and lived in a palace, but my hot temper got me into trouble. I saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, and knowing that they were my own people, anger flared inside me, so I killed the bully, but of course you cannot hide crimes like that easily. They catch up with you, and so it was with me.

The Pharaoh tried to kill me, and suddenly I had to run for my life. I didn't really think or plan, I just ran off to the land of Midian. But, thankfully the people in Midian were kind to me, took me in, and let me live as one of their own. A priest there let me marry one of his daughters, and I made a new life for myself. I even forgot I'd ever lived as an Egyptian, and yet, that time I spent in that land, and the language of my youth, those years I thought were wasted, were to come in very useful later, but I didn't know that then.

So then I became a shepherd. I didn't have sheep of my own, I wasn't that rich, but I tended the flock of my father in Law Jethro the Midian Priest. He was a kind man, who looked after us well, but sometimes i did wonder if he only did this because of his daughter,. still, no matter, we were fed and housed and felt useful. Some people would say it was a bit of a come down, being reduced to overseeing sheep after being in the civil service, but I didn't care. The atmosphere was less opressive and I saw much less cruelty with only the occasional lion or bear to chase away.

But then came my big life changing event....The event which was so incredible that I know some people's eyebrows will shoot up when I tell it. For there I was, looking after the sheep, and frankly i was a little bored, because sheep don't really do much, apart from eat and walk around and go baa. I thought for a second I'd been daydreaming, so I pinched myself, but, no, that was not the case, I was really seeing what I was seeing.

It was a bush." So what" you may reply," there are plenty of bushes in the desert", maybe so, but this bush was on fire. Yes you might reply, well the hot sun can scorch bushes sometimes and they can combust if the atmosphere is dry.
OK, well in that case why are the leaves of this bush green and vibrant? In fact the bush seemed to be doing rather well even though it was on fire. I was truly very puzzled. It was a bizarre sort of phenomenon, but maybe if I went closer there would be a more obvious explanation as to why this was so.

So I walked closer, and then I heard the VOICE. It called me by name. The BUSH called me by name. Not just "Oy you, shepherd blokey" but "Moses" How could a bush possibly know my name? So I said , somewhat shakily "here I am" I didn't know what else to say really. I was here, I was scared but I hadn't run away...yet. And I was playing for time to see what the voice said next. And then the voice said "Come no closer. And take off your sandals, you are standing on holy ground."

So I did what the bush told me, and took off my sandals, and yes I could feel the holiness of that earth tingling beneath my feet as I stared at the bush, gently shaking and wondering who it was that was talking to me. It must be someone important. An angel perhaps.

And as the voice identified itself, I hid my head with shame and wonder, for it was GOD. THE God, the one TRUE God. THe God of our fathers Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob. Not any old wooden pretend God such as the ones the locals worshipped. Nope the real deal. And I was afraid to see his face for I might die of shock. Part of me felt like I should kneel or something, but I was rooted to the spot, so I just listened as the voice told me more.

"I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out becase of their slave drivers and I am concerned about their suffering."

And I felt moved. Because all that time when the Israelites had been saying. Where is God, doesn't He know we are suffering, doesn't he care? It turned out, that all that long lonely time, he had been listening, and He did care, and he was concerned, was hatching rescue plans, and now and he was going to put them into action, to do something about it! I was thrilled to see what He was going to come up with. What stunningly huge armies he was going to send to beat up the baddies and rescue the innocent.

The voice promised that he would take the people to a land flowing with milk and honey, a land populated by many other tribes. But then came the scariest bit of this conversation. The voice told me to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites back.
erm ME. not an army of angels, not a human army or even a super human giant. Nope. Just me. One person verses the ruler of an empire. And then I really felt shaky.

For who Am I? I'm just one sad skint refugee. And so I asked that question. Who am I that I should be given this enormous task? Nobody special that's sure.
But God replied. "I will be with you. And as a sign I promise you will come and worship me on this mountain when its all over."
So I was not alone, but at that moment I certainly felt a little alone, for the company of this great and mighty being, was so awesome and amazing. yet I tried to reassure myself. For God actually said that this huge task was something that HE was going to do,not something that I was going to do. And so maybe I should just try to do what He said and not get in the way, not keep my sandals on and ruin his plans, but take them off and listen to His guiding voice.

But even so, I couldn't resist asking this deity its name. Me, moses, asking the creator of the universe what I should call him. I was a bit scared even phrasing the question, so I sort of did it cunningly. I created a scenario where the Israelites asked me what they should call God and asked God in a second hand sort of way. I thought he might be less angry about the rudeness then, for if you know someone's name, you have power over them. You call it out, and they will turn round!

But God was not angry. But then nor did he give a direct answer. He gave more of a description than a real name. He said "I am who I am", but he said so in the Hebrew language, which has no tenses, so he also said, I will be who I will be, and I was who I was. He just is, he just was, he just will be. A kind of constant rock in an ever changing world. And a God who reaches into our future as well as our past, who knows what's coming, and has it all planned already, like a reassuring peek at the last page of a novel that is only half read.

And then he said that this is his name forever and his title for all generations. So there it was, I had the most daunting task I had ever been given, one that seemed impossible. For surely I would be arrested and hanged as soon as I set foot in Egypt. But, I also had this promise, from none other than the Creator of the Universe, that I would get out of Egypt alive a promise given by someone who had been with me in that future, who was going to be with me in that future, and who KNEW that it would be so.

Transfiguration Hymn.

This new hymn looks suspiciously like my Epiphany Hymn, but I have tweaked the lyrics for the feast of the Transfiguration. Feel free to use if you wish. (the tune is "I vow to thee my country").

O Christ, You came from Heaven to Earth,
Infinity made small
Revealing Heaven's surprising plans,
You show God's face to all.
We offer You our gold,
That is we crown You as our king.
The incense of our worship, A fragrant offering.
And with myrrh we'll touch the wounded ones
With precious healing balm
Be your eyes and ears and healing hands
To comfort those who mourn.

We have looked for love and seen its face,
Within a loveless world,
And to those who hope for happiness
Your glory is revealed
For we saw Your face while searching,
And Your love grew in our lives
And we know tranfiguration
As clarity arrives.
Even now You guide the travellers,
Through dangerous dark lands.
Till the day we reach our Heavenly home
Held safe within Your hands

Christ You dived into our water
and you made our water pure
And You lived within our tangled lives
and made them so much more
For the hand of God has touched us,
Bringing Christ into this place
And there's hope for each culture,
Each nation, every race
For the Christ-Child grew
and showed us
The true face of the Divine
For we simply lived on water
Yet you turned it into wine.

Stones

I was going to say "This was the mediation we did on Sunday". Actually this isn't quite true, as I forgot to bring the script with me, but thankfully remembered most of it off by heart. But anyway this was the meditation we almost did on Sunday, when the lectionary had a lot of readings about rocks in it!


You might like to hold your stone, while we say the following meditation.
It is based on lots of incidents where stones appear throughout the bible. The stones that built the temple, David killing Goliath, the stoning of Stephen, the Spriritual temple mentioned in the first letter of Peter, the many mansions that Jesus tells us are in God's house. The cairn that was built when the Isreallites crosses the Jordan while God held back the water, and the stones that Jesus said would cry out if the people stopped shouting Hosanna as he rode into Jerusalem.


What can you do with a stone?`

You can do many different things.
You can throw your stones at a dangerous person
Your definition of dangerous
being someone you disagree with.
you can beat them till they cry
"Lord Jesus recieve my spirit"
And they lay their head down and die.

You can build them into a house,
A temple house for God
Carve pomegranates and angels, to decorate the borders.
And know that God will come and visit
The structure you have made.

You can stretch up your head,
And admire the cornerstone at the top
The one that holds al the others together
And know that someone once rejected it,
But now it has the highest place.

You can launch your stone within a slingshot
And kill a warrior and giant
But save a persecuted people.
But your stone would then be bloody
Even though you saved some lives.

You can lead a spiritually hungry people
Through a dry and dusty desert.
And when their mouths are parched with thirst
Strike a stone with your old staff
And watch clean water gushing out.

You can build a cairn,
To remember a great miracle
Like holding back the jordan river
For travellers to cross

You can build a house with many stones
And know that there is room
For everyone within its walls.
But that there is just one way in,
One door that's open wide.

You could march seven times around stone walls
And watch them tumble down.
So prisoners can be released
And evil rulers sacked.

You can give it to your child,
When they ask you for some bread.
But you know deep down you wouldn't
Because you want them to eat well
And grow up beautiful and strong.

You can put your ear next to your stone.
And listen for its song.
Knowing that if we stopped our praises
It would cry hosanna to the king.

Your stone can kill, your stone can build,
Your stone might sing, or might gush water.
The choice is yours.
What do you most want
To do with your stone?

More ambience and electronica

I quite often listen to "Groove Salad" internet radio when I've got writing to do. Malcolm does too, but lately he has got bored of the track listings (probably cos we use so many of them in services I suspect!) Anyway he has started listening to DI.com which is another internet radio station, which has some very nice ambient and electronica on it.

Anyway yesterday they were playing some reallly nice stuff my Mikael Fyrek, so, as usual I scribbled down the track name and did a websearch on it. Its always nice to find that the thing you were looking for is being given away for free by the artist.
Mikael Fyrek on Myspace.
The album - In riots of colour they spin
Enjoy!

Jesu Grant me this I Pray (the Good Friday mix).

Once again, it occurs to me that posting some lyrics might come in handy for someone, sometime.
We've remixed Jesu Grant me this I pray a couple of times, but this version was designed for a Good Friday service.


Jesu grant me this I pray.
Ever in Your heart to stay
Let me evermore abide
Hidden in your wounded side
Hidden in your wounded side

In Your tortured agony
You bring us eternity
Crushing evil, hate and pride
Showing us Your wounded side.
Showing us Your wounded side.

Crucified on Calvary’s hill
Let me love You deeper still.
Bring me home, yes be my guide.
To Your heart and wounded side.
To Your heart and wounded side.

Longing for Your paradise
Coming when the timing’s right
Sweet surroundings You provide
In Your heart and wounded side.
In Your heart and wounded side.

O sacred head (Sues words)

Yonks back I remixed O sacred head.
It occurs to me that this week is a good time to repost the lyrics. So here we are.
It starts fairly standard and then in verse 2 goes a bit different....
Free free to swipe.

And click on the link if you want to hear my version.
(its down at the bottom of the page once you get there so you'll have to scroll for a bit)

O sacred head surrounded
by crown of piercing thorns
O royal head so wounded
The object of our scorn
Deaths shadows rise before you
The glow of life decays
Yet angel choirs adore you
And tremble as they gaze

You saw our human sorrows
Abuse and pain and war,
And all our deadliest horrors
The hate lodged at our core.
I bow to You our mender,
For healing our disgrace.
For loving us like no other
To save the human race.

Your beauty, health and vigour
Are crushed, Your strength is gone
And in your tortured figure
I see death coming on,
In agony and dying
You bled to make us free
We long for transformation
Christ turn your face to me

What language shall I borrow
To thank you dearest friend
For all your tortured sorrow
Compassion without end!
Christ make me yours forever
And when at last I die
Embrace me then and show me
Yourself, Your love, Your life.

Liturgical Recipes

I was trying to write a talk for Palm Sunday today, and while researching a completely un-related piece of information, I discovered liturgical recipes! Apparently the thing to eat this Sunday is porrdige made of peas....and have some figs for dessert.
So now ya know!
Catholic Culture recipe site.
Some of the recipes look intriguing though.

I had curry tonight. Which probably wasn't liturgical at all (apart from being vegan which curries often are in our house). But it did taste very nice.

Epiphany (why waste a good tune!)

After remixing the tune of "I vow to thee my country" I was looking at the songs for the Transcendence service on Sunday, and realised that although "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" is the sort of song people usually do at this time of year, it was going to be really tricky to do. (Its in 3 for a start. Have you ever tried writing dance music in 3? Its not impossible, just very very difficult)

Anyway, so I had a look at the words, and had a think about what the service is meant to be about (revelation of God to everyone, not just the "in crowd", and the baptism of Christ and the wedding at Cana thrown in for good measure) and I came up with this...

Feel free to use, project, stick on bits of paper etc...I'm sure you know the tune.

O Christ, You came from Heaven to Earth, infinity made small
Revealing Heaven's surprising plans, you show God's face to all.
We offer You our gold, that is we crown You as our king.
The incense of our worship, a fragrant offering.
And with myrrh we'll touch the wounded ones with precious healing balm
Be your eyes and ears and healing hands to comfort those who mourn.

We have looked for love and seen its face, within a loveless world,
And to those who hope for happiness a sign has been revealed
For we saw Your star while searching, and we found You in our lives
And Your legend took on flesh, Your reality arrives.
Even now You guide the tra-ve-llers, through dangerous dark lands.
Till the day we reach our Heavenly home held safe within Your hands.

Christ You dived into our water and you made our water pure
And You lived within our tangled lives and made them so much more
For the hand of God has touched us, bringing Christ into this place
And there's hope for each culture, each nation, every race
And the baby grows and show us the true face of the Divine
For we simply lived on water yet you turned it into wine.

The Magi's Journey

Christmas seems a good time to post this. Feel free to use it if you wish.....Some details might seem surprising to you, but having visited Bethlehem in the middle of winter two years running I can assure you that it really is very cold there at this time of year! (Last year it was colder there than in York).

Instead of having a sermon, we are going to have a cross between a story and bible meditation. So get yourself into a comfortable position, close your eyes if you find it helps, and begin to relax........ Now is the time to leave the busyness of the high street shopping, the worries about what to wear, what to eat, who is coming on Christmas day and to place them in God’s hands. You think about each one now, name it before God, and imagine God turning it into a little silver ball to hang on your Christmas tree............ Now you are free of your worries you can begin to tune into what God wants to say to you this evening.

---------

Now imagine. Imagine that you are a traveller. You have come a very long way. All the way from Africa, carrying a small quantity of precious, fragrant burning resin. You have ridden for hundreds of miles on horseback till your thighs are aching and sore, you have travelled on foot too, till your back aches and your feet throb. Sometimes the territory was a little too forbidding or a little too steep to stay mounted. You are now in a strange country, and here it is night, and the nights are cold.

For as you began to climb higher into the hills, the temperature began to drop. It feels like you are on the roof of the world here and although it is pleasantly warm at noon, at night it is much colder than you have ever known it. There is frost on the ground. You have heard tales of this white powder that covers the sand where the dew has dropped, but noone has ever told you what it felt like before.
-how it bites at your fingers,
- how the cold wind cuts into your face.
- how your knees ache with the cold in the middle of the night with only a flimsy tent to protect you.

You wrap your thick, woolen travelling cloak tighter around you and you look for the place you are searching for. You feel scared and lost. Very lost. Although you have travelling companions and a servant nearby, you know how vulnerable you are in a strange place, with different customs, and this place is under military rule. Armies have been marching past you at regular intervals on the journey.

You hear jeers and shouts from cohorts of passing troops at times, and
the fear is always at the back of you and your companions minds. What if they turned on us? We could never fight against them, there are too many of them. But so far, they never have turned on you. Their commanding officers reigned them in, and told them to march faster. They disappeared over the horizon, the soles of their boots drumming rhythmically into the road.

The fear stayed, deep-down though. And the despair too and the tiny voice inside telling you that you must be crazy for leaving everything you know behind you, just to search.

Because you *are* searching - looking for a new born king. Looking for some answers in life too.
Yet the obvious place to look for a king is in a palace .

But the only palace near this place had no children crying in it. It contained only a bad tempered ruler, who you were afraid would
murder you on the spot, and a few local priests of the ancient and complex religion they follow in these parts. These holy-men directed you six miles to the South. But you aren’t really sure who you can trust. The king who asks you to report back to him with the cold-steel of a threat in his voice, or the priests who consult their ancient scriptures and give the name of a tiny hamlet miles away from anywhere important.

Your confusion mounts... and the black pit of fear in your stomach.
Was this long journey all for nothing?

And now you reach the village. Someone has scrawled the name of the place on a wooden post near a watering trough. The place is riddled with caves, like a giant anthill. And you begin to wonder where on earth you should be looking next. But then you gaze into the sky, and as you gaze the starlight seems to crystallize through the freezing air, pointing the way to one cave in particular, with an old family home leaning crookedly against it, like the cave has become the spare room or the granny flat for the unwanted guests and the pet goat.

It is about as far removed from a palace as you could wish. Deeply deeply ordinary. Yet something inside you makes you want to look further. You lift the latch. And smell, not goat dung, but something animal all the same, a cow, and the remains of whatever the cow had for breakfast. The ripe smell makes you cover your face at first.

But then you look around. And see a scrubbed corner. And in the scrubbed corner a woman is lying on a pile of staw. She is pale, as if she has been bleeding. She looks as if she has recently been through a great ordeal. And then you see the man. He is much older than her, and he is busy propping the woman up with piles of straw and trying to persuade her to drink some wine from a goatskin he is holding.

You hail him in your native tongue. He looks puzzled. You remember just how far you are from home so you try again, this time in the rough traders Greek you have picked up over the years. This time he replies, falteringly, trying to find some words. “Hail stranger, come in.”

You ask. “I have come from far away. I am looking for a baby king.”

He points to a feeding trough, which puzzles you at first. Perhaps he is offering food for the horses. Then you peer inside and you are shocked.
A baby. He is lying, newborn by the looks of him, too purple and wrinked to be any older than a few hours, tiny and fragile, wrapped in bands of cloth that are wound around and around, as the Egyptians do with their princes before they bury them. You stare straight into the baby’s eyes, and the baby seems to stare at you, in an unfocused kind of way. You move closer, so you can see each other more clearly. You feel moved to talk to this child. What do you say? ........................................................

Then the baby seems to want to communicate back. Not in speech, for he has no speech as yet, but in the way that he looks, his position. His eyes bore a message into your soul.
What does he seem to be saying to you...........

And now you feel compelled to give the child a gift. You have brought frankinsence from your home country for him, but you also want to give him something else. What gift do you want to give him now, a personal gift between you and him that noone else can see.................

Your companions come in too. They also pay their respects and give their gifts, and then you leave, after a brief conversation, filled with the halting phrases provided by the language barrier and both your lack of vocab. You are aware that something tremendously important has passed, but you are also aware that it will take time to process this. You sit and think for a while, about what this can all mean, about the next step.....

And then you hear singing, strange, ghostly music, that seems to come from the clouds and the frosty air itself. It sounds like the cross between a song of joy and a lullaby.

Hymmage

I'm doing a wedding, Visions-style at the end of the month. Its quite exciting really as its only the 3rd completely-Visions-style wedding we've ever done and especially nice because we've known Pete for years.

We're singing three hymns at the wedding. "Be thou my Vision", which we already had a remix of, "And can it be" (which I also had a remix of, but I didn't like it so I've done another) and a song which was new to me "O God beyond all praising" which is sung to the tune Thaxted, (I vow to thee my country). I always liked that tune, but really didn't like the words much, so its really nice to see some nice words to it (which are really appropriate for a wedding). Turns out it 187 in the "Praise!" hymnal.
It has some cool lines like..
"Oh God beyond all praising, we worship you today
and sing the love amazing that songs cannot repay;
For we can only wonder at every gift you send,
at blessings without number and mercies without end:"

and these lines really go with the "for richer, for poorer stuff"...

"Whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill,
we'll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless you still"

The words are by Michael Parry (1942-96).

Anyway I've now remixed this one as well and am feeling very productive having 2 new tunes in the bag in one week!
All I have to do now is find time to record some vocals to all the hymns we have remixed this year. I have a bit of a plan to release a CD entitled "Hopefulness" and use the money to finance social action projects in the city which would be a nice contribution Visions could make to the Hope 08 thing. Lets hope we get the time to do the recording......

Gregorian.

Whilst searching on itunes for "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" I was browsing various other artists covers of the song, and discovered a group called Gregorian. Have you ever heard something and wondered..."Hmm...either this is very clever or its cheesy." And I really don't know which. Actually having mulled it over I think its both clever *and* cheesy.

Basically they are a German group who sing covers of well known songs, but only ones which work in the 7-tone scale.
The vocalists record their parts in a church atmosphere with dimmed lights and candles for atmosphere's sake.

Actually I think their version of "with or without you" worked, but "fields of gold" really made me cringe! Still its worth having a listen for interests sake. It will either amuse or make you cringe, or make you smile, or maybe you might really like it. Feel free to share what you think!

Claudia's tale

This is a story I wrote for the feast of Christ the King the other year. It seems like a good time of year to post it up.

Sometimes its good to fill in the gaps in a well-known story. Or to see it through different eyes. And so, instead of a sermon. I’m offering you a story. A fictional account of one woman’s glimpse of Christ the King. So here it is, Claudias tale. And apparantly she really was called Claudia. As for the rest. Well the factual information is taken from the gospels which you can read for yourself. The rest....came from somewhere in the imagination.
--------------------------------

My name is Claudia Procula, and it is said that I was a grandchild of the great Augustus Caesar through a rather unruly daughter. You probably think you have never heard of me, yet you may well have done, although not by name. I bet you have heard of my husband though. The man who killed a god to stop a riot. Pontius Pilate. So, if you are willing to sit back and relax a while, I will tell you my story.

It began early Thursday night with a dream. A terrifying dream of a tortured man, a wreck of a man, with holes in his hands and thorns on his head, crying out to a deity in utter devastation. But then an incredible shining light began to shimmer from within him growing in its intensity until it seemed to turn the world to white and as I creased my eyelids against the light I saw that he himself was divine. The son of God. Then time flashed back, and I saw my husbands stylus sign a death warrant. And the pen became a hammer and the hammer clanged on the steel of the sharpest nail I had ever seen, ripping and tearing through the flesh of a hand that was only outstretched in blessing. The blood ran down and covered my husbands hands and I saw the man I loved turn into a monster, a murderer, a king-killer, a god-killer, and a smotherer of all the goodness in the world. And as I ran towards them screaming, to try and stop the man I loved turning into a demon I ended up running nowhere, sliipping further and further away, and as I ran and screamed I too was covered in blood. The earth quaked and swallowed us up.

I awoke, and my bedsheets were wet with sweat and tears. This dream was more real than anything else I had ever experienced in my sleep. I could think of nothing else and the screams were still ringing in my ears. The night was stiflingly hot, and in fear of further terrifying nightmares I left my bed and my room, quicky pulling on a simple dress and an all-encompassing dark cloak. I left my hair down rather than dress it, for I did not want to wake the slaves. But in my confused sleep-filled frame of mind, I quizzed one of the guards at the entrance of the palace. A guard I trusted for his loyalty “Has anyone been arrested this evening. Anyone unusual. I feel sick with foreboding. I’ve had a terrible nightmare and sense that a great injustice is about to be done.”
The guard knitted his brows. “ I have heard that the prophet from Galilee has been arrested by the Jewish priests.He is currently being held in their prison. One of the soldiers just returned from patrol reported it back to me. “
“Take me there. I want to see him,”
“Maaam?”
‘Take me there. But do not breathe a word of this to anyone. I just want to look, you understand.”
And so we went, in the dead of night, to the Jewish priests prison. My cloak offered invisibilty and the soldier offered protection. And my face, well that was the passport to whatever I wished. Noone could refuse the wife of the governor.
The cell had a heavy oak door, with a square barred grille upon it. I did not ask for it to be opened. I was too terrified. I had never entered a prison before. The stench made me retch. I had nothing to mask the smell of blood and sweat, urine and sick. I covered my nose with my cloak, and peered into the cell. There were rats in there. There was also a man in there. But the rats would not go near him. They cowered in fear and kept to the corners. The man had been badly beaten, so much so that it was hard to make out his facial features. He was bound hand and foot, but was kneelng on the floor, his head raised to the sky. And then I knew. It was the man from my dream. And despite the smell, and the wounds, the pain and the sounds of arguments from the room above, there was a sense of calm, of authority. A bubble of peace surrounded the man. He held his head like a king preparing for battle, scanning the sky to judge the weather and then I felt the ground tremble, ever so slightly. As if the creation itself was preparing for battle too. As if creation itself obeyed him. And I knew in my bones that this beaten up wandering mystic dressed in ripped and bloody clothing had the ultimate power, which ran deeper than I could possibly understand. He was king... but if he was in charge the world was crazy. Nothing made sense. ...But nothing does make sense in a world where children die and monsters live.... And then my fear got the better of me, and I ran from that place and the guard ran behind me. I wanted my Pontius to have nothing to do with that man. He was terrifyingly powerful, even in his weakness. Not Pilate, but the prophet. I could believe that that prophet ruled the world and I did not want to cross him. And so, arriving back at the palace, I scratched out a message to my husband’s office in my own hand, not that of a scribe “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man. For I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” I sent the letter to him via my trusted guard as the cock crowed, announcing the dawn of a new day.

But there was nothing I could do to save the man.
I tried.
And I believe my husband tried too, as far as he dared, but he didn’t dare risk a riot, or his precious position.
The next day, I went, once again in disguise, to the room in the Palace where Pilate was questioning Jesus. And from my hiding place, behind a pillar, I heard it all. The battle commencing. “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Is that your own idea. Or did others talk to you about me?”
Who was running this conversation? Those did not sound like the tones of a prisoner begging for his life.
“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were my servants would have fought to stop them arresting me. My kingdom is not from here. “
”So you are a king then?”
“You say I am a king. “ then that light I saw in my dream seemed to glimmer in his eyes “Its for this I was born, for this that I came into this cosmos. To be martyred telling you the truth. Everyone belonging to the truth hears me .”
‘WHAT IS TRUTH!” Pilate cried sweeping out of the room.
And then things went hazy and the world turned wild. Pilate offered to free Jesus. They preferred to free a robber who was practially a serial killer thinking THAT would make the world better place. And then they crucified their king while Pilate washed his hands.

But I witnessed the end. I saw the wreck they had made of his naked body, ripping his skin off with metal whiphooks. I saw the nails of my dream in his palms. But I also heard the conviction in his voice when he spoke to the thief they crucified with him. I heard the thief beg him. “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.” And he replied to that man who had probably never done a good thing in his life, hours away from it ending “Amen. I’m telling you . Today you will be with me, in Paradise.”And I knew that it was true. He was a king. He had a crown, even if it was made of thorns.
He had a throne, even if it was an instrument of torture, and as he breathed his last the earth itself shook, releasing the dead. Yes, I could believe that in all this, he really was in charge.

God of all the nations.

The Iona community have written a rather wonderful peace-song to the tune of Finlandia. We remixed it and have sung it for a while now on Remembrance sunday. But the song was only two verses long, so rather than singing it all twice, the other year I wrote two more verses. Help yourself to my two verses if they prove useful
The Iona version starts.
"This is my song, O God of all the nations A song of peace, for your land and for mine...." and you can find the words in the book "Praying for the dawn" by Ruth Burgess and Cathy Galloway.

This is my song, O God of all the nations
A song of peace, for your land and for mine
Forgive our deafness to your peaceful calling
When fear and anger fill our waking lives
When in our wars we kill your precious children
And black explosions rip your deep blue skies,

Come heal our ears, when they are tired of listening
And heal our eyes, when they can’t see your plans
And calm our fears when we see no solution
To all the torture that invades your lands.
O hear my song, O God of all the nations.
Bring us your peace, come hold us in your hands.