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 nations are healed and all warfare is banished
When nations are healed and all warfare is banished
by Andrew Pratt
When nations are healed and all warfare is banished, the hungry are fed and the poor lifted high, the vision of glory, God's presence among us, will signify love and all hatred will die. The river of life will flow on unpolluted, the language we share will express common wealth, …
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…
When roots grow deep and branches rise
When roots grow deep and branches rise
by Andrew Pratt
When roots grow deep and branches rise they mirror faith secure in grace. And from this ground thanksgiving grows beyond this time, in every place. Verses 2 follows Tune: BRESLAU Metre: LM Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 12/7/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stain…
When our lives are tossed and windswept
When our lives are tossed and windswept
by Andrew Pratt
When our lives are tossed and windswept, twisted, spun and turned around, God is in the swirling darkness, leads our feet to solid ground. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: WRAYSBURY; WYCHBOLD Metre: 8.7.8.7 Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 2/3/2013 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, w…
Where are you God, when darkness shrouds each day
Where are you God, when darkness shrouds each day
by Andrew Pratt
Where are you God, when darkness shrouds each day Fifth Sunday in Lent Psalm 130; John 11: 1 – 45 Where are you God, when darkness shrouds each day, when mists obscure my path, I see no way? Where are you God amidst this urban sprawl when roaring traffic leaves a smoky pall? Wher…
Where bodies hang in bloody torment
Where bodies hang in bloody torment
by Andrew Pratt
Where bodies hang in bloody torment, as once prefigured by the cross, we see again in coarse oppression, such human hate and human loss. The nails once hammered through Christ’s body, are now replaced with guns or wire, sophisticated ways of torture, yet no less sharp the fear th…
Where jackals gnaw the drying bones
Where jackals gnaw the drying bones
by Andrew Pratt
Where jackals gnaw the drying bones Fifth Sunday in Lent Ezekiel 37: 1-14 Where jackals gnaw the drying bones and vultures wheel above, the people languish losing hope, is this the end of love? This exile tore them from God's grace, yes that is how it seemed... Andrew Pratt (bo…
Where is Jesus, where is Mary
Where is Jesus, where is Mary
by Andrew Pratt
Where is Jesus, where is Mary, where is Joseph in this crowd, here where commerce feeds subversion, elevates the rich and proud. Mother, father and, and a baby, shoved by bureaucratic creeds, soon to cross a nation's borders, crowds will denigrate their needs. Lasers beaming, neo…
Where the jackals scratch a living
Where the jackals scratch a living
by Andrew Pratt
Third Sunday of Advent Year A Isaiah 35: 1 – 10 Hymn: Where the jackals scratch a living, Where the jackals scratch a living, in this wild, deserted place, springs will bring refreshing water, grass and reeds will sign God's grace... Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © Stainer & B…
Where people are friendly and walking as one
Where people are friendly and walking as one
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Where people are friendly and walking as one Proper 17 Year A Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b Where people are friendly and walking as one, the sound of the spirit is ringing; right here in a world so discordant with strife, in harmony, know God is singing. So tell all the world …
Times and Seasons - Where can a sense of grace be found
Times and Seasons - Where can a sense of grace be found
by Andrew Pratt
Where can a sense of grace be found? Where is God's song of love to sound? We need to hear that we are safe when words of criticism chafe. Verse 2 follows Tune: RIVAULX Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 19/2/2014 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. Please in…
Within the Areopagus
Within the Areopagus
by Andrew Pratt
Hymn: Within the Areopagus Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 17: 22-31 Within the Areopagus debate was heated, talk was fast, Paul joined this lively interchange: debate goes on, the questions last. It was not easy to believe: the 'god' they worshipped was unknown. They harboured an un…
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