Turn Off Your Computers (One Day a Week)

Sing this to ‘Streets of Laredo’: sound file at end of song.

Turn off your computers, your tablets, your mobiles,

put them aside for just one day a week:

then in the stillness, ask God to give respite,

and free of this pressure, allow Him to speak.

 

Open your heart and your mind to the moments,

tranquil, without all those constant demands

that FOMO can thrust on you, minute by minute.

Or colleagues cause pressure, so hard to withstand.

 

So: treat yourself gently,

and try not to worry,

even though this

may seem hard at the first.

Once you’re disconnected

from global distractions,

this gives your soul freedom,

With God to converse.

 

Such space God will honour, be sure you can trust him,

remember his pledge to the weary and worn,

‘Cast all of your worries, distress and frustration,

upon me, and I’ll give you rest from life’s storm.’

 

This one day in seven, is God’s holy pattern,

Six days of exertion and one day of rest:

So in your surrender of constant connection,

You’ll give God His space; and the time will be blessed

 

So: treat yourself gently

And try not to worry

Even though this

may seem hard at the first.

Once you’re disconnected

from global distractions,

this gives your soul freedom,

With God, to converse.

 

Refresh me, dear Lord,

Refresh me, dear Lord,

Refresh me, dear Lord, give me peace.

Refresh me, dear Lord,

Refresh me, dear Lord,

Refresh me, dear Lord, hear my plea.

You can listen to this song, sung by the Author by clicking on the title below. You do not need to sign into Dropbox to listen

Turn Off Your Computer... 

You might also like to look at With My Phone in My Hand which celebrates the astonishing range of knowledge and information available to all of us who have a phone - and lays out some cautions/ prayers for wisdom in using our mobiles.

The Atom and The Molecule are part of God’s Great Plan

The Atom and The Molecule

(A faith and science song - tune to follow)

 

Source: CGI by the author: note the heart of the image

This is a lighthearted song which blends the science of Creation and an outline of the Christian story. I hope you and God will like it: I found it great fun to write!

 

The atom and the molecule are part of Gods’ great plan, 

the photon and the proton both emerged in The Big Bang. 

The source of all the elements was God’s almighty Word,

and the fundamental forces* jumped for joy! 

 

Great rocks and little pebbles were coerced by gravity 

to form amazing planets, and enormous galaxies 

The source of all this gathering was God’s almighty Word,

and the fundamental forces jumped for joy! 

 

Great beasts preceded humans here, upon our planet earth,

extinction by an asteroid left fossils we unearth.

The source of all those massive lives was God’s almighty Word,

and the fundamental forces jumped for joy! 

 

Among much smaller creatures, human beings then evolved

and Eve and Adam’s epic was the wisest story told

Of mortals’ brash behaviour despite God’s forewarning Word.

And the fundamental forces paused their joy.

 

As humans down the ages moved away from God’s great plan,

He gave His Son to visit us, from baby through to man,

to offer us a vision of life lived by His Word,

and the angel hosts of heaven sung for joy.

 

Good News and life eternal were the messages of Christ,

confronting powerful leaders anxious they might be displaced;

Christ’s shameful killing at their hands fulfilled the Prophets’ Words

(Pause)

AT HIS RISING ALL THE COSMOS LEAPT FOR  JOY!

* The Fundamental Forces are 

• The Weak nuclear force responsible for particle decay: find a good physics site such as 'Live Science’ to explain the mechanics of this and the other three forces.You will find a link at the bottom of this post.
• The Strong nuclear force
• Electromagnetism     
• Gravity
•                                                               
• These four forces govern everything in the Universe (Source: Space.com)

This same theme is explored in a rather more youth-friendly  song called ‘The Bible Starts with Awesome Tale’ which can be accessed HERE

And similar ideas are caught into the hymn Source of The Fundamental Forces

The four fundamental forces are explained on this page of the Live Science website

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nails!

Manger and Cross: CGI by the Author

Nails

A baby’s hand

waves from a crude-wood  manger.

An exquisite example

of that child’s creative genius:

soft, already marked

uniquely with Davidic fingerprints,

and bending, flexing

with the loveliness of new birth.

In that condition, utterly dependent

on the love and care

of a young, disgraced maiden .

 

The silky, small fingers

reach out involuntarily

beautifully ending in

tiny, perfect nails

 

A young man’s hands

fashion rough wood

as he follows the example

Of his father’s trade.

Learning, and learned

in scriptures, beyond his years.

Bending, flexing, mind and muscle

to the demands of apprenticeship:

In that, gaining independence

From the love and care

Of awed, astonished parents.

 

A ruggedness in the hands

that reach out determinedly,

with fingers that manipulate

potentially dangerous nails

 

Outstretched arms

pinioned on coarse wood.

An iconic example

of that man’s divine love.

Human, already scourged

Near death with hallmarks of barbarity.

Now groaning, twitching

wracked with the vileness of crucifixion.

In that, utterly isolated

From the love and care

Of his eternal, Almighty Father.

 

A withered-ness of the flesh

reaching out voluntarily

with hands pierced

by crude, vicious nails.

 

Psalm 93 Reimagined for C21

As we approach the end of the Christmas period at Candlemas, an opportunity to think of the cosmic relevance of the incarnation 

Psalm 93 Reimagined for C21 

 

You, Lord, are ruler of the whole universe:

you are robed in the fabric of the cosmos

which was established at your Word.

The vastness of space and time

cannot contain you, Lord.

You are from and to everlasting.

Constellations are testimonies to your might,

Planets and their inhabitants praise you

   in joyful outpourings of known and unknown tongues.  

More majestic than the roar of gargantuan waters

that dwarf all of earth’s mighty oceans;

more majestic than storms that are indescribably vast,

are you, Almighty God

.

You reign in eternity and even now know the

    time of your return and the end-time of the universe .

Your laws guide us into truth, righteousness and justice.

Let me delight in the holiness of your domain

both now and forever, O mighty God.

If you appreciate this sort of re-working, you may like a similar refashioning of part of Job 38 which you can find HERE 

And here is the original in the NRSV

The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty;
   the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength.
He has established the world; it shall never be moved; 
   your throne is established from of old;
   you are from everlasting. 

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
   the floods have lifted up their voice;
   the floods lift up their roaring. 
More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
   more majestic than the waves of the sea,
   majestic on high is the Lord! 

Your decrees are very sure;
   holiness befits your house,
   O Lord, for evermore.

This Time, This Place: this Gift of Grace

 This Time, This Space: Retreat into Grace

A very short history of a Medieval Retreat House!

 

This time, this space:

this gift of grace

is balm to the soul:

where farmlands roll

to converge and enclose

where Abbots imposed

their tithing demands

on all those who rented their land.

 

Such wealth, such realms

with Oak, Ash, and Elm,

incited a King

to annexe everything

that was clerically owned

and could be handed on

to henchmen-at-arms,

who’d exploit those former church farms.

 

In time this place

became a space

where stillness might reign;

letting Moderns abstain

from their feverish rounds                              

and the clamorous sounds

of our time and place.

Indeed, a locale of great grace.       

 

Trevor Thorn: Launde: January 2023.

A Reflection on This Time, This Space.

 

Last week, we just made it to Launde Abbey and its exquisite surroundings in a beautiful natural bowl of Leicestershire. I say ‘just’ because so much militated against us getting there. Our purposes of that journey were so Pam could join a Quilting group week and I could settle to the bliss of three and a half days for writing and editing some of my earlier scribblings.

 

First, I uncovered a virus in my laptop. Looked nasty – and no chance of our friendly local expert being able to attend to it before we left on Monday morning. Thankfully Pam would not be using her laptop whilst quilting, so I was able to access the essential tools of a thesaurus and a rhyming dictionary – but not my image library, nor some of those older notes I had planned to edit.

 

But, rather worse, on the Saturday before the Monday we were due to leave, towards the end of a longish journey, our car’s brakes began to grind in an unpleasantly gruesome way. A garage visit Monday morning confirmed my suspicions – the car should not be driven, other than to return home across our village.

 

Hiring a car at very short notice proved not to be possible, but our son-in-law was free and willing to transport us. How very fortunate – and what a blessing. We arrived only half-an-hour into Pam’s programme though the return journey would have to be resolved during the week.

 

Launde Abbey is undoubtedly a very special place for those who get to enjoy its ambience. On the morning following our fraught arrival, it felt right to celebrate its existence and its ministry. The following poem ‘This Time, This Space, This Gift of Grace’ emerged. It is a VERY brief history which could apply to several retreat houses around the UK: all of them are a blessing to most of those who can avail themselves of such opportunities, and whilst ‘balm for the soul’ may sound trite, I can’t think of a better phrase to describe a place…

 

‘where stillness might reign;

letting Moderns abstain

from their feverish rounds                              

and the clamorous sounds

of our time and place.

 

And since the pandemic struck, it feels that such places are even more important than they were before that challenging time.

 

With these thoughts in mind, whilst on a frosty and beautiful walk, I felt quite distressed to see just how weather has ravaged some parts of this lovely building. It did not need an expert to realise that stone window frames alone will soon need large sums of money to make them safe and weatherproof. As a former fundraiser, I began to speculate… I wonder if there are any seriously wealthy philanthropists out there who would adopt such a place and funnel adequate funds into one of them to secure it for, let’s say the next quarter century. She or he would be performing a service that many, many people would benefit from.

If this poem commends itself to you, you might find this link to a poem called Embracing Silence helpful

Spirituality and Science Gallery No 8: Creation Genesis a Sonnet

 

Exoplanets; Thousands of them. Children’s God and Science song.

It is quite a while since I have posted anything new in the ‘Sing of God and Science’ collection (aimed at KS1 & 2 pupils). So, when a song-writers challenge (Organised by Resound!) incorporated that age-group in this month’s challenge, it felt like a good opportunity to write something new. This gave rise to a realisation that many sciences have been and are making huge strides and lots of discoveries. So, in this song I celebrate the rapidly growing number of discoveries of Exoplanets. In simple terms, these are any planets outside our solar system - planets that orbit round other suns (stars). NASA’s site will give much more detail for any teacher or young-peoples’ workers wanting to use this as a teaching song.

Per NASA

Exoplanets come in a wide variety of sizes, 

from gas giants larger than Jupiter to small, rocky planets

 about as big around as Earth or Mars.

 They can be hot enough to boil metal or locked in deep freeze. 

They can orbit their stars so tightly  that a “year” lasts only a few days; 

they can orbit two suns at once. 

 Exoplanets (can be sung to Infant Holy, Infant Lowly)

 

Exoplanets; thousands of them,

spin round hugely distant stars:

as new telescopes look further

they’ll uncover more and more 

 

maybe millions,

could be billions,

even trillions,

or quadrillions,

as God’s cosmos they explore,

as God's cosmos they explore.

 

Exoplanets spin their orbits

Out beyond Sun’s mighty sway:

those discovered, dim the brightness

of their host star’s gleaming rays.

 

maybe millions,

could be billions,

even trillions,

or quadrillions,

as God’s cosmos is explored,

as God's cosmos is explored.

 

Myriads of those exoplanets

Will have moons and weather strange.

Their conditions may be more

Extreme than earthly climate change!

 

Yes - more millions!

could be billions!

even trillions!

or quadrillions!

as God’s cosmos is explored,

as God's cosmos is explored.

And to see an index of the full collection of  ‘Sing of God and Science’ songs Click Here

 

 

O Christmas Tree with Angel Throng

 O Christmas Tree with Angel Throng.

Our Christmas Tree of 2022

with its ‘throng' of some 70 angels.

I guess many families have their ‘own’ traditions: we certainly have. Perhaps the most delightful is decorating the Christmas Tree with our own 'host of angels’ - after several years, a veritable throng! And it is this year's reappearance of our angelic band from their home in the loft that inspired this children’s song. You can listen to me singing it at (to be added shortly after Christmas: provisionally you could use the basic tune and rhythm of The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy)

What makes this collection special for us, is to think of where our angels come from, or from whom, or what they represent. Some are beautifully hand made, some come from friends, some recall a place that has been special to us, and some represent countries where there are injustices far worse than we have ever had to endure - though who knows, here in the UK we seem likely to have an even less-just time in the next few years.  Rather than brood on that, though, I invite you to enjoy this celebratory little carol which can quickly become a singalong!

O Christmas Tree with Angel Throng.

 

(Clap on the last three syllables of each line

 until last line then clap on last two syllables only)

 

 

O-O-O-O Christmas tree, with angel throng,

O Christmas tree, with angel throng,

O Christmas tree, with angel throng.

you honour Bethl’em’s angels.

 

Yo----ur angels sing out ‘Peace on Earth!’

Your angels sing out ‘Peace on Earth!’

Your angels sing out ‘Peace on Earth!’

Along with Bethl’em’s angels.

 

Yo----ur angels sing out ‘truth and love!’

Your angels sing out ‘truth and love!’

Your angels sing out ‘truth and love!,

Along with Bethl’em’s angels.

 

Yo----ur angels sing out ‘Mercy ‘n’ grace!’

Your angels sing out ‘Mercy ‘n’ grace!’

Your angels sing out ‘Mercy ‘n’ grace!’

Along with Bethl’em’s angels.

 

Yo----ur angels sing out ‘Come Lord come!’

Your angels sing out ‘Come Lord come!’

Your angels sing out ‘Come Lord come!’

Along with Bethl’em’s angels.

 

So O O O give your tree, an angel throng,

So give your tree, an angel throng,

So give your tree, an angel throng,

And hark to Bethl’em’s angels.

 

 

 

     

Dear Lord, I Thank You for The Sun (& other clean energy sources)

 Dear Lord, I thank you for the sun

Tune: Fulda (We Have a Gospel to Proclaim ) or many LM tunes

 

Dear Lord, I thank you for the sun

with its amazing energy,

which we can harvest every day

and turn to power reliably.

 

Dear Lord, I thank you for the winds,

unseen as they turn turbine sails

to generate their gusty streams

of pristine power at mighty scale.

 

Dear Lord, I thank you for the ways

that water-power is utilised,

and pray that soon we’ll tame the tides

for widespread use – a precious prize.

 

Dear Lord, please guide those who invest,

to understand; NOW is the hour

for boosting flows of finance to

those who commit to greener power.

Find more Care of the Planet poems, songs and hymns at https://crossandcosmos.blogspot.com/p/care-of-planet-collection.html

 

The Shepherd’s Message (I Remember, Oh How I Remember)

Picture credit craftville.com

As the shepherds return to the hills...

The Shepherds’ Message 

I remember, oh how I remember,

that night and the following day: 

the angels, the singing, the scurrying

and the sweet smell of clean bedding-hay.

A baby with parents bewildered

at our finding the byre where they’d lodged.

Such a very strange place for Messiah 

to be born, for the purpose of God.

 

When we left as the new day was breaking 

there were people who work at first light,

and we realised we should not keep secret 

the wonders we’d witnessed that night.

So we, who are skilful in silence, 

to detect sounds of lion, wolf or thief, 

found our tongues running wild with our message,

of a child bringing goodwill and peace.

 

By the time we got back to the hillside,

we'd been stopped any number of times,

for the story had travelled like wildfire, 

even faster than tales about crimes! 

For some it was just as the prophets

had foretold - of God coming to earth: 

to others a nonsense - but useful 

to gossip and boost their self-worth

 

It was strange how a group of mere shepherds,

 ‘outsiders’ in ordinary times,

became sought after, visited, talked-of,

for our witness of Yahweh’s sublime

way of breaking the news of Messiah 

throughout Bethlem's valleys and hills.

In no time it was voiced in Jerusalem,

stirring hearts, both for good and for ill.

 

Trevor Thorn © 2021 

The Gifts of the Magi: Three Sonnets :

The Gifts of the Magi: Three Sonnets

Sonnet 1 - Sage/ Magus

Sonnet 2 - Joseph

Sonnet - 3 Angel.

 

Sage/ Magus

Between us all, we needed to be sure

that we could eat and provender our beasts,

on strange impetuous journey, with a star

leading to one who will be King and priest.

Not one of us knew where this star might lead

So being charged to plan our wherewithal

as I was, felt a puzzle, guessing needs

and dangers, such as being held in thrall.

So, gold a ‘must’; by each of us agreed,

to deal with tribes with goods or skills to sell;

but gold is heavy, risky too, once seen.

Ah! fragrant resins can be traded well.

And! Lightweight Frankincense and Myrrh, with gold,

might make apt gifts for one by star foretold.

 

Joseph

An angel warned, we needed to depart,

For frenzied Herod in a rage would kill

Our first-born child. Flee where? How should we start?

Rely on Yahweh’s wise and sovereign will?.

Think now! We’ve gold; for all immediate needs

From anyone with vital goods to sell;

But gold is heavy, risky too, once seen.

Oh! fragrant resins can be traded well.

So we are blessed; those unexpected gifts

give us the means to leave here instantly,

to face a fearful flight, which needs be swift,

with God’s provision, timed just perfectly.

Yes! Incense, myrrh and gold will pay our way,

Such fitting gifts for this horrendous day.

 

Angel

I come with news of journeys safely made,

Sages returned. The refugees now far

from violent thugs in puppet Herod’s pay. 

Assassins those, blood lusting, groomed for war,

And death of innnocents, with ‘Crush by rape’

Presumed in edict, ‘Slaughter Beth’lem’s heirs’.

While I’m dream-urging Joseph to escape,

My distraught comrades weep for those now snared.

So flies the family, with gifts concealed

Their lifeline: infused too with meanings deep.

Incense, a precious sign of God revealed

Who, in their child, spans all the starry sweep.

Gold for the kingship of God’s only Son.

Myrrh for his tomb – and your salvation won.

People of God, Awake!

 

People of God, Awake! 

Tune: Hills of the North Rejoice/ Little Cornard

People of God, Awake!

In this earth’s crisis hour.

Bold in our stewardship

let us speak truth to power:

the use of fossil fuels must end

if we, the planet ‘s health would mend.

 

Unless good sense prevails

every low coastal place

will fall beneath the waves

millions will be displaced.

So may we like the prophets old

sound warnings and take actions bold.

 

If everyone of faith

rallied to make it clear

that our Creator God

needs us renounce our fears

of taking action, to demand 

that gas, oil, coal are swiftly banned.

 

Then would our stewardship

chime with the will of God,

who must lament the wounds

wrought on the world he trod.

So protest now in forceful ways

to save these being earth’s last days.

Find more Care of the Planet poems, songs and hymns at https://crossandcosmos.blogspot.com/p/care-of-planet-collection.html