Remembering Bishop Simon Barrington-Ward and New Inspiration From The Jesus Prayer.

One of the 50 different language versions

in the Jesus Prayer collection

gathered and posted in 2012

(by chance in this set, the slide above emerged

as a random selection - and is coupled

with the Coventry cross-of nails, another

remembrance of Bishop Simon)

 

From time to time recently, I have returned to praying The Jesus prayer in some of my quiet times. It has evoked memories of the part that the late Bishop Simon Barrington Ward played in our lives at the time we moved to Cambridge for me to join the staff of Ridley Hall. Bishop Simon’s prayerfulness shone out of him, sometimes with his small pocket book that he would write in whenever anyone asked for prayer. As Chaplain to the staff at Ridley, he played a significant role in the staff fellowship that was such a special part of that time of new horizons in a place that neither Pam nor I had ever expected ourselves to be. So much of that time to be thankful for.

 

Lord Jesus Christ, 

Son of God, 

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

 

And in the times of further using this ancient prayer came the fresh idea of adding  a further stanza to the prayer

 

Lord Jesus Christ, 

Son of God, 

Come fill me

With thanksgiving and praise.

 

This second stanza above emerged in an earlier morning quiet time and helped me recognise that maybe to seekers or non-believers, the wonder that is the Jesus Prayer (Stanza 1) might feel downbeat and give or reinforce feelings that the Christian faith is a dour philosophy.

 

By adding the second stanza, it might help some to recognise that Confession – Thanksgiving – Praise is a sequence of hopefulness that mirrors the pattern of much liturgical worship: so might be able to bring some hope and optimism into the lives of some who are heavy-laden.

 

I hope that for those who are thoroughly immersed in the ancient prayer, this might not be an affront, but a sincerely meant augmentation that can spread the meditative reach even further as we move through the 21^stcentury.

 

In 2012 I was very thoroughly immersed in the ancient prayer, I struggled to produce the prayer in 50 languages to encourage thinking about Jesus welcoming people of every nation. With the development of web-based translation services, that has become a far easier task, so without much ado Stanza 2 can be swiftly available in translation and some samples follow. 

 

Perhaps a similar sequence to my earlier collection, which can be found HERE , will follow.

 

So, as a start towards a similar collection, here are five language versions compiled with the help of a web translation site.

 

Spanish

Señor Jesucristo,

Hijo de Dios,

ven y lléname

Con acción de gracias y alabanza.

 

French

Seigneur Jésus-Christ,

Fils de Dieu,

Viens me remplir

Avec remerciements et louanges.

 

Portuguese

Senhor Jesus Cristo,

Filho de Deus,

Venha me preencher

Com ações de graças e louvor.

 

Italian

Signore Gesù Cristo,

Figlio di Dio,

Vieni a riempirmi

Con ringraziamento e lode.

 

German

Herr Jesus Christus,

Sohn Gottes,

komm und erfülle mich

mit Danksagung und Lobpreis.

 

As I post this, I think I will be returning to this theme.

 

 

Put on Quietened Headphones.

This is a companion poem to the post on this blog of 04.01.24 entitled Wellness, Mindfulness, Relaxation or Meditation. It explores in verse the nature of the silent headphones and our experience of our own intensified breathing sound.

 

Put on quietened headphones to hear your own breathing,

drawing in air and then pouring it out.

in those profound moments your headphones can offer

stillness to ponder what life is about.

 

Reflect for some minutes on air and your breathing:

all of Earth’s creatures take similar air

of nitrogen, oxygen^ mixed with small traces

of other gases, globally shared.

 

And where does the air that we breathe every moment

come from and go to? It’s borne on the wind:

in wild adverse weather it travels great distance

on calm days its movement is naturally trimmed.

 

So celebrate air and its movements as wonders,

nurturing life on our planet benign.

Let‘s daily be thankful for these on life’s journey:

gifts to us all in creation’s design.

 

And having said thanks for continued existence,

return to the deep sounds of taking each breath

and ponder the mystery of life you’ve been given

in your wondrous journey between birth and death.

 

Conclusion 1*

Before you take leave of the sonorous rhythm

resolve that you’ll always be grateful for air?

and for the way it envelops our planet

held fast by gravity everywhere.

 

OR 

Conclusion 2*

But mystery and silence might draw you much further,

from day-by-day rhythms to unbounded time,

from out of your depths a surprising up-welling

a longing to enter the presence divine. 

########

 

*The poem deliberately has two possible endings. If, for you, this poem with its associated breathing exercise is woven into a bodily well-being programme, then you will probably be more comfortable with Conclusion 1.

For some, however, the exercise might be part of a prayer/spiritual practice. In this case, Conclusion 2 might be the more helpful reading.

In either case, you might like to follow the link immediately below which leads to a celebration of our five senses

LINK: https://crossandcosmos.blogspot.com/2016/04/for-amazement-by-beauty-celebration-of.html

^Note: Air comprises 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon,

 0.04% carbon dioxide, 0.5% water vapour.  

 

The 4th January posting on Mindfulness, Wellness. referred to in the opening sentence above, can be found HERE

Footnote: If you’re fortunate enough to have a quietened room, you can experience a degree of this effect by cupping your hands round your ears - but that inevitably will leave you less relaxed. If you haven’t any such space, an open church might provide the quiet and a pew or seat in front of you that would enable you to rest your arms and take a more relaxed posture.

 

Portfolio for Life. (When Fossil Fuels Have Been Comprehensively Shunned)

Image Pixabay edited

Portfolio for Life. (When Fossil Fuels Have Been Comprehensively Shunned)

When fossil fuels have been comprehensively shunned -

and they must be;

 

when the production and proliferation of armaments

are killed off -

as they need to be;

 

when the impossible pursuit of perpetual growth

Is accepted to be illusory -

for it clearly is;

 

and when greed is once more perceived to be 

corrosive and deadly;

 

then hope can blossom

and the love that lies at the heart of creation

burst into the Godly glory of global justice and peace.

 

Seals and White Horses

Seals on Lindisfarne Sandbank

Staying once again on the beautiful Holy Island of Lindisfarne and privileged to be able to watch the tides from the lounge and bedroom windows. Sunday 10 days ago we experienced a wild wind which roared up the sound, so I tried to capture the moment and ... consider the future.

Seals and White Horses

(on a Lindisfarne Sandbank)

 

Twice a day,

some twenty score of seals

languidly allow themselves to succumb

to the encroaching sea,

as it steadfastly overwhelms

their sandbank resting-place.

 

But on this tide

a stampede of white horses

chases them

into forced retreat

before a fast-running tide,

driven by ferocious wind.

 

This wind has roared across the Atlantic

having wrought devastation-by-flooding

prior to leaving its last landfall.

 

Yet more extreme weather

resulting from the

undeniable climate chaos,

discerned by the truth-seeking,

broad-based research

of rightly sombre scientists.

 

Too soon, the sandbanks

will be permanently submerged.

 

No respite then for seals.

Nested Within Eternity

Life Forces: CGI by the author

Nested Within Eternity

(Drawing on the prevailing scientific views of mid 2023)

 

Nested within eternity

lies creation.

Big bang? Big bounce? 

A single benign universe or multiverses?

Physicists and mathematicians, speculate,

and for a while, in one seat-of-learning or another

a fresh concept will gain traction,

prompting intellectuals to hunt for strings, 

for dimensions, for physical states:

for theories of the sub-atomic

that attempt to explain

our astounding presence, satisfactorily.

 

But the veils persist, sometimes parting

to reveal a new glimpse

of our existence:

minds race to accommodate the novel,

within a new theory of everything.

 

Amazingly-conceived telescopes

uncover new puzzles in hitherto

partially explored wavelengths

and intellects are brought to bear from

a multitude of disciplines

as the apparently, very first

tremblings of matter

emerge, with unexpected patterns

of gases, plasma and time.

 

And beyond it all is that vastness

we call eternity: 

God’s overarching realm

from which,

emanates

all that is seeable,

all that is hidden,

all that remains cosmic mystery,

spliced together with the sheer wonder of love

for everyone and everything that exists

on a small, insignificant planet

which is in danger of being destroyed

by us, its beloved but wilful inhabitants.

 

How can we be so sure of that realm

amidst such awesome mysteries?

Because the all-mighty God

visited us, showing us supreme love

by dying for this wayward race.

Our Earth is Beset by a Crisis

 

Earth and Space  (imagined): Pixabay free image

This poem was written as a song for the Resound 12 Song Challenge 2022/3. Musicians might like the challenge of writing music for it. If used as a poem, in the chorus use line 1, 3,4,6

Our Earth is Beset by a Crisis 

 

Our earth is beset by a crisis, 

driven by human excess,

through profligate use of resources 

by we who could manage with less.

God surely calls us to be stewards

of the planet where Jesus has lived,

and challenge the fossil fuel behemoths,

to save our Creator’s great gift.

 

chorus

help us be stewards Lord,

help us be stewards Lord,

of this your much-loved home.

help us be stewards Lord,

help us be stewards Lord,

working so justice may come.

 

The evidence for this disaster

spans continents islands and seas:

so Christians in every nation

need pray and protest to relieve

the damage that’s being inflicted

on this ravaged planet, our home,

and bring hope through visionary challenge,

as_we_plead ’Now with justice, Lord, come’

 

chorus

help us be stewards Lord,

help us be stewards Lord, 

of this your much-loved home.

help us be stewards Lord,

 help us be stewards Lord,

 working so justice may come.

 

Where Intellects Are Nurtured in this Fast-moving Age,

Photo: Pixabay free images

I am currently engaged with a challenge to write a new worship song every month for twelve months. This month’s challenge has been to write about our hometown or village. With my enthusiasm for weaving ideas of faith and science together it was unsurprising that a hymn/ song for Cambridge (UK) suggested itself. (We live on the edge of the City).

It could equally be used by any chapel/ church/ worship group in any University town - worldwide. The prayer-plea for wisdom feels very needed in this day and age.

Here it is: the verses can be sung to ’The Church’s One Foundation’ (Aurelia) with an invitation for the refrain to be improvised by local musicians.

Where intellects are nurtured

in this fast-moving age,

the gift of Godly wisdom

is needed day by day:

when innovation fosters

new ethical demands,

or scientific progress

might transgress God’s commands.

 

Refrain

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray,

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day.

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day

 

Where intellects are gathered 

from countries far and wide

deep-rooted propositions 

will frequently arise:

for with such fertile gatherings

of minds from many a race,

Inspired, wide-ranging theories

can be explored apace.

 

Refrain

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray,

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day.

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day

 

Where intellects are welcome

from every race and creed,

inclusive ways are crucial

for Learning to proceed.

So Lord, let moral purpose 

and peace-based attitudes

grace all our institutions,

where research is pursued.

 

Refrain

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray,

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day.

Give wisdom, dear Lord we pray,

Give wisdom, Lord, day by day.

 

  

Psalm 24 (Re-imagined) for the Second Space Age

NASA: Colliding Galaxies: arp 143

Psalm 24 For Today.

Verses can be spoken or chanted.

The three Responsories can sung by all to the tune Truro/ Jesus Shall Reign Wherere The Sun.

 

The whole cosmos is the Lord's and everything in it:

every particle of matter throughout the universe.

 

All human beings, the earth’s wild creatures and resources:

and unknown beings who may live on planets far beyond our reach.

(Responsory 1) 

Lift Up your heads, you galaxies, 

Bright Nova form a dazzling path,

That your great King of Glo-o-o-ory 

Through all your realms may nobly pass 

 

It was God commanded the deep realm of space, Come forth:

and it sprang into instant being.

 

He established light and dark; light to see the wonders of our generous planet:

darkness to invite us to see the vastness of creation.

(Responsory 2)

 Who is this great and glorious King?

The Lord, Creator of us all, 

It was His Word establish-ed 

Prime forces and base particles.

Who shall travel beyond, into the eternal presence of The Lord:

or who shall dare to approach that holy place?

 

Even those who have clean hands and pure hearts, 

who love righteousness and Godly justice, and who despise greed and iniquity.

 

These will receive blessings from The Lord: and be welcomed into his kingdom of love.

They will be a renewed generation of those who revere God,

who stand in awe at the unfolding of the magnificence of his creation. 

 

Lift Up your heads, you galaxies, 

Bright Nova form a dazzling path,

That your great King of Glo-o-o-ory 

Through all your realms may nobly pass 

 

 

(c) March 2023

There is a YouTube Video  posted on the Sing of God  and Science channel. You will find it at 

https://youtu.be/4XHgjfVDhlY  

 

Re-birth: A Welcome to Eternity.

 

Re-birth: A Welcome to Eternity.

A Funeral song to the tune of How Can I Keep From Singing.

(First two verses for anyone: Last verse for committed Christians)

As I embrace eternity
I’m joined by many others:
Yes! several hundred thousand*: all,
my sisters and my brothers.
I feel my God will look with love
on humble souls and gracious,
whatever faith they’d had or none
if they’d been kind and selfless.

A loving welcome most will share,
though not the vain nor greedy,
nor those who by their power had crushed 
the poor, the sick, the needy. 
So my great hope is, on this day
our God will smile upon me,
welcoming me with unknown friends,
together bound for glory.

And though I know that Jesus Christ
is my path to salvation
I’m sure those who’ve not heard his word
won’t face annihilation.
So may I tread with joyful steps
into the realms of glory
with many humble, righteous souls
who’ve never heard God’s story.

 

*The average global hourly death rate in 2023 is 333,000

 

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.

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 the Second Space Age

Original Introduction in brackets here, but equally appropriate at  any time we want to praise our amazing God

(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 the Second Space Age

 

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.