hymnsandbooks

Thursday 5 December 2013

Nelson Mandela Hymn

This day we have witnessed a man for all nations, 
a man who was human, held fast what is right, 
for this he would live with profound resignation,
he shone in the world, don't extinguish that light.

And we who are human stand now in remembrance, 
frail shadows of all he has shown we can be. 
Standfast in this moment and cherish the values, 
for which he once suffered that we might be free.

The man we remember has died, will be [has been] buried, 
yet while we seek justice his theme will not fall
His spirit is living, will not be extinguished, 
the love he embodied is always for all.
Andrew Pratt 5/12/013 Copyright Stainer & Bell Ltd.
At the death of Nelson Mandela
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.


Wednesday 22 May 2013

HURRICANE / TORNADO HYMN


A twisting wind that wreaks such devastation,
a town like matchwood torn and turned around;
an act of God? Or nature's self destruction?
Here people die, trees rooted from the ground.

It seems there is no safety in this carnage.
And where is God when random death walks in
destroying buildings, tossing cars like pennies?
A game where all will lose, and none can win.

Within a school, or with a homeless stranger,
the Christ will suffer in this human loss;
and God will love amid this human grieving,
as once he loved while hanging on a cross.
© Andrew Pratt 21/5/2013
Tune: INTERCESSOR
andrewpratt@btconnect.com

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