PLEASE
NOTE; The copyright notice for this text should now read: © 2015 Stainer &
Bell Ltd and NOT © 2015 Andrew Pratt. The text is available using a CCL
Licence.
1 If we claim to love our neighbour
while the hungry queue for food,
are we prey to self-deception?
Is perception quite so crude?
If we sit beside our neighbours,
begging for the things they need,
we might share their own injustice
in a world that thrives on greed.
2 If we punish those with nothing,
blaming them for where they stand,
is this love of friend or neighbour,
do we still not understand?
Love of neighbour is not easy,
cuts us till we feel the pain,
sharing hurt that they are feeling
till they find new life again.
3 Love of neighbour sets us squarely
in the place where they now sit,
till the richness God has given
builds a pearl around the grit;
till each person shares the comfort
of the love of which we preach,
till we live as fact the Gospel:
none can be beyond love's reach.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
1 If we claim to love our neighbour
while the hungry queue for food,
are we prey to self-deception?
Is perception quite so crude?
If we sit beside our neighbours,
begging for the things they need,
we might share their own injustice
in a world that thrives on greed.
2 If we punish those with nothing,
blaming them for where they stand,
is this love of friend or neighbour,
do we still not understand?
Love of neighbour is not easy,
cuts us till we feel the pain,
sharing hurt that they are feeling
till they find new life again.
3 Love of neighbour sets us squarely
in the place where they now sit,
till the richness God has given
builds a pearl around the grit;
till each person shares the comfort
of the love of which we preach,
till we live as fact the Gospel:
none can be beyond love's reach.
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2015 Stainer & Bell LtdMetre 8.7.8.7.D
Tune: BETHANY
(Smart)
Written during
the Manchester & Stockport District Synod (in response to a Joint Public
Issues presentation by Rachel Lampard & Paul Morrison). The hymn was sung
at the close of Synod.HYMNS POSTED ON THIS BLOG MAY BE USED FREELY LOCALLY WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. TO PUBLISH FOR PROFIT PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHOR.