Search Results
We read of cultures from the past
We read of cultures from the past
by Andrew Pratt
We read of cultures from the past where slaves were normal, commonplace. Today we look with different eyes, to keep a slave would bring disgrace. Yet people still are caught and sold, removed from family and friends, then bought, mistreated and abused. For them life’s horror neve…
What a scandal, such forgiveness
What a scandal, such forgiveness
by Andrew Pratt
What a scandal, such forgiveness, no repentance, just a show, this anointing seems so wasteful, who is she? And does he know? All conventions disconnected, does he know how this will look? See that Pharisee, affronted, all this seems outside his book. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: BETH…
We wring our hands in hopelessness
We wring our hands in hopelessness
by Andrew Pratt
We wring our hands in hopelessness while Herod's spirit roams abroad, the innocent are slaughtered still as hatred draws a tighter cord. We lack audacity to face corruption in our very midst; humanity is drawn by greed and power has the final twist. God bring again your human…
What better way to spend the night
What better way to spend the night
by Andrew Pratt
What better way to spend the night than walking down a city street? Near shuttered shop fronts bodies sleep. Is Christ among the ones we greet? The stars are bright, the frost is sharp, and home will draw us from the cold. Outside the door, beyond the warmth, young people die bef…
When all is lost, there seems no turning back
When all is lost, there seems no turning back
by Andrew Pratt
When all is lost, there seems no turning back; when friends are gone, while gain has turned to lack; when life has left us in a crumpled heap, we slip and slide, we agonise and weep. Sometimes our lives are spun, flipped upside down, the royal are poor, the beggar wears a crown. …
When in our loneliness, lost without comfort
When in our loneliness, lost without comfort
by Andrew Pratt
When in our loneliness, lost without comfort, homeless, abandoned, when hope has all gone; God speaks through history, the words still disturb us: 'this is your home and you must carry on'. When our depression has mirrored that exile, hope is diminished and love drains away; even…
When blood is poured like water
When blood is poured like water
by Andrew Pratt
When blood is poured like water, humanity destroyed, in denigrating neighbours, your grace seems null and void. Our politics seem barren as this hot desert floor, while all around seems hopeless and life, a firm closed door. Verses 2-3 follow Metre: 7 6 7 6 D Tune: PASSION CHORAL…
When ever disaster brings death and destruction
When ever disaster brings death and destruction
by Andrew Pratt
When ever disaster brings death and destruction, when people are suff'ring and questions arise, we should not assume some divine retribution condemning the people that we might despise. God's judgement is subtle, each person is counted, each one is significant, folded in grace. G…
When Jesus prayed in mystic, sweet communion
When Jesus prayed in mystic, sweet communion
by Andrew Pratt
When Jesus prayed in mystic, sweet communion, he was not begging for a loaf of bread, yet noting the reality of hunger, his words are human, asking to be fed. This human need that undergirds existence, provides the ground, the need to live in peace, where grace determines human c…
With daring we enter the future that beckons
With daring we enter the future that beckons
by Andrew Pratt
With daring we enter the future that beckons, our feelings in tension - excitement and fear. Wherever we're walking we know God walks with us, before and behind, God's protection is near. *Alone in the desert God's people felt empty, the land that was promised of honey and milk s…
Willows hung with harps are weeping
Willows hung with harps are weeping
by Andrew Pratt
Willows hung with harps are weeping like the sorrow of our song, deep reflection of the mourning for the hurt of human wrong. Hurt which seems to have no ending, still rings on from age to age, still our human hearts are bleeding, still our grief takes centre stage. Verses 3-4 fo…
Wisdom: Word before creation
Wisdom: Word before creation
by Andrew Pratt
Wisdom: Word before creation, source and essence of our birth, ground of being, life's existence, energising all the earth; Verses 2-3 follow Metre: 8 7 8 7 Trochaic Tune: CROSS OF JESUS Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 27/4/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer…
Right here in the presence of loving and grace
Right here in the presence of loving and grace
by Andrew Pratt
Right here in the presence of loving and grace, see Judas is scowling, a sneer scars his face. Anointing with perfume is costly and rare, this gift could be sold giving substance to care. What need this affection, that Jesus received? It seemed to go counter to all they believed.…
Safe in God who always held us
Safe in God who always held us
by Andrew Pratt
Safe in God who always held us from the moment of our birth, still protecting, never resting, till the ending of the earth. God our refuge, loving parent, guiding as our lives proceed; God of providence and comfort seeks to meet our every need. Verse 3 follows Tune: LAUS DEO (Red…
Questions whirling wind around us
Questions whirling wind around us
by Andrew Pratt
Questions, whirling wind around us, probe, disturb, unsettle thought; undermine secure perception that our simple faith has caught. Verses 2-3 follow © Andrew Pratt 18/9/2012 Tune: COME REJOICE (Noel Tredinnick, Jubilate Hymns); LAUS DEO (Redhead) Metre: 8.7.8.7 Please include on…
Some voice! it splinters beams of cedar
Some voice! it splinters beams of cedar
by Andrew Pratt
Some voice! it splinters beams of cedar, it flashes out in flames of fire, it thunders over mighty waters, it makes the theme of praise run higher. The shaking earth moves with that thunder, the ground is rattled, rough and raw; this quaking land disturbs the ocean, destructive w…
So many people, flawed and faulted
So many people, flawed and faulted
by Andrew Pratt
So many people, flawed and faulted, had come to Christ in hope of health, to be restored, to be accepted, was worth much more to them than wealth. Yet grace was free, as was forgiveness, God does not trade in things of need, but others said that Christ offended and undermined the…
Straining human understanding