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.

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.

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

 

Look Around In Many Towns and Villages...

This is a companion poem to 'The Song of The Rooftop’ published here just a week ago. Both are fairly lighthearted poems written with the idea that school-age children might be able to use them to start a conversation about a fairly prominent statement demonstrating a community’s desire to do all it can to protect out fragile planet.

I will add to this post over the next two-or-three weeks as I find information which can supplement this poem. One thought would be that this and/or its companion could be included in an end-of-term concert. So, watch this space, and watch also for a post which will list around 10 or 12 items, all of which could, similarly be introduced into end-of-term concerts. 

Solar Panels on St Barnabas (Barney’s) Derby: 

Photo credit Pixaby.

Oh Yes! Don’t worry if people quote Listed Building Status as a problem: there are lots of helpful precedents, including solar panels on two Cathedrals - Gloucester (installed 2016) and Salisbury (installed 2020).

Look Around In Many Towns and Villages.

 

Look around, in many towns

and villages you’ll find, 

there's a parish church

which has weathered storm and wind, 

down the years. There, people

have met to mark the dates,

of life and death occasions

and often celebrate.

 

Almost all these churches

have nave roofs that face South:

they'll get the sun upon them 

throughout the daylight hours; 

and as they’re large and well-placed

to gather solar power,

with big arrays of panels 

they can drive emissions down.

 

So why not ask the Vicar,

and chat around the town

to see if there are people

whose backing could be found,

to help to make this happen 

in your community

to help towards an earth that can

from fossil fuels break free?

 

Trevor Thorn June 2022

The companion poem ’The Song of the Church Rooftop' can be found HERE

Carol of The Good News

Picture credit

 faithofourfathersfaith.blogspot.com

I suspect there are many, who like me, delight in those moments when a familiar Bible passage gives rise to an unexpected train of thought. This happened just a few days ago when meeting an Advent invitation to our congregation (Made by my Ordained wife) to read the 24 chapters of Luke through the first 24 days of December. I had scarcely started when the words of Luke 2 17-18 gave me an idea …

¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 

 

This led to thoughts about oral story-telling and the thought-provoking idea that God’s plan meant the Shepherds, almost certainly outcasts from respectable society, were the first evangelists. So this carol celebrates the earliest dispersal of the news of Jesus’ birth throughout the locality of Bethlehem. 

 

The Carol of The Good News (Luke 2 17-18)

Can be sung to any 87.87 tune (suggested by author - LOVE DIVINE)

 

Gather round me all you people,

I’ve a wondrous tale to tell;

heard it from my trusted cousins,

told by shepherds round a well.

 

It was just a few days since, those

shepherds watching flocks by night

on the hills surrounding Bethl’em, 

Saw a startling, dazzling light. 

 

There were angels, calling, singing

urging them ‘Go into town,

where a new-born in a manger

is The promised Holy One’.

 

So, let’s tell this story widely,

prophecies attest its truth.

Come! Make every hill and valley

ring with joy at our glad news.

 

December 2021.

More carols, Christmas songs and activities for All Age services can be found HERE

8 Years old - A day of celebration

This is a celebratory post because last weekend was the eighth anniversary of the first entry on this blog. So this is an opportunity to say ‘Thank you' to all of you who call up The Cross and The Cosmos from time to time. I very much hope that you find both thought provoking and helpful material here. And from time to time some fun with which to engage children - hence the balloon image!

As this is a celebration, I thought it would be good to post a shortened version of my song ’This is a Day of Celebration’. The full version can be found HERE

This is a Day of Celebration

General Chorus (to start)

This is a day of celebration,

This is a day for shouts of praise,

This is a day of jubilation,

Jesus, your Name we raise

Jesus, the Name above all others,

Jesus the name that brings release,

Jesus, our Saviour, our Messiah,

Jesus the Prince of Peace.

Chorus

This is a day of exultation,

This is a day of Jubilee,

This is a day to tell all nations

Jesus will set you free.
Chorus

Something new amidst the traditional Christmas music?

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS AND LINKS TO ALL THE CONTEMPORARY CAROLS PUBLISHED ON THIS BLOG SINCE ITS START

AN ANGEL TOLD SHEPHERDS WITH GREAT, GREAT JOY (CAROL) (Click here)
A simple-to- learn children's carol which tells of the birth of Jesus and the Salvation story. This is simple enough to teach in a service and the suggested activity which can involve small or large numbers of children - and the grown-ups with them!

AT BETHLEHEM IN BORROWED CATTLE STALL (CAROL) (Click here):
 A carol based on the beautiful French folksong Plaisir D'Amour with a fanfare chorus based on the magnificent  Isaiah prophecy "Wonderful, Counsellor... “

BEFORE THE CREATION, THE WORD WAS WITH GOD (HYMN) (Click Here)
A sung version of The Christmas Gospel (John 1. 1 - 15). Sing it  to the tune 'To God be The Glory’

BE STILL, SMALL EARTH (CAROL) (Click Here),
also known as 'A Carol of the Cosmos' as it celebrates the cosmic disturbances that marked the birth of Jesus. This is written to be sung to the hymn tune from Finlandia (Please observe the copyright note printed with this carol).

GO TO NAZARETH MY GREAT MESSENGER (CAROL) Click Here Imagines God instructing His Angels from The Annunciation to the warning to Joseph to flee with his new family to Egypt. Lively dance-style tune.

OVER PLAINS OF ARABIA ONE CRYSTAL NIGHT (STAR OF JUBILEE) Click Here. Story of the Star sung to the Shaker Tune used for Sidney Carter’s 'Lord of the Dance’

PRAISE THE CREATOR GOD Click Here
Hills of The North Rejoice reframed to start with creation and build to the crescendo of Advent.

STABLE TALK (This Manger’s Well Made) - Click HERE
A  carol that gives Joseph a ‘voice’ in the stable as he imagines the future for his new-born son

STARS AND PLANETS SING YOUR GLORY  (HYMN) (Click here).
This hymn of praise, (can be sung ‘Lux Eoi’ (preferred tune) or to the Beethoven tune used for 'Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee’ or another 8.8.8.8 tune) is suitable as a Christmas hymn but can also be used at other times to celebrate Christ as the Lord of the entire cosmos.

STAR OF HIGH HEAVEN by John B Hobbs (Click Here)

Children’s Carol for the Epiphany to the Low German Folk tune ‘Dat Du min leefste best’.

VIVID WINTER'S MORN (CAROL) (Click here)
This carol is intended to be played and sung in rock style

Whilst this post consists of all the contemporary Carols published on this blog, there are also children’s Christmas activities on this blog which you can access by clicking HERE

'Faithful Heritage' - Poem for All Saints' Day (and other Saints' Days)

Faithful Heritage

Down through five-score generations

someone passed on belief for me: 

at first, maybe a disciple

who walked beside Christ, strong and free,

inspired by the love of the Master

agog with miracles seen

fervent in faith; bold after Christ’s death

proclaiming New Life, not a dream.  

I give thanks for this faith-filled lineage

as the message was handed on,

through my forbears, or friends, or through clerics;

and sometime through children, in song

with a simple delight in Christ’s stories,

and a wonderful sense of the grace 

in the actions and love of a Saviour

who’s called me, that New Life, to embrace.

Thoughts behind ‘Faithful Heritage’

For several years now particularly at All Saints’-tide, I have marveled that, if I could trace it, there would be a genealogy of believers who have passed on the faith in every generation since Jesus lived with us on earth, until it reached me. In my case my parents, grandparents and, I think, at least two of my great- grandparents are part of that precious chain. For others, it will be people completely out of their own family; but the person who helped them to faith will have their faith-genealogy too. Somewhere down those long lines there will, quite possibly, be a saint who is recognized by the church, maybe a member of The Way persecuted to death for passing on the Good News; maybe someone of Roman extract or of the Norman church; maybe a person or people from a completely different Christian source.

This poem embraces these thoughts and could be linked for an assembly/ collective worship/ all-age service  with the simple but very effective all-age activity which can be found at http://crossandcosmos.blogspot.com/2014/10/all-saints-day-activity-timeline-of.html

In the second verse, there is another possibility that we (my wife, Pam and I) have encountered from time to time – the glorious evangelism of children brought up in the faith. We know from older friends, who in their childhood lived in comparative isolation in a home where the only book was a Bible, that many of the games they played were Biblically based (an opportunity to dig a hole and put your brother into it, for example!). This notion of children playing such a part resonates with Matthew 11.16 (children playing) but even more so with Matthew 18.3, Matthew 19.4 and similar passages in Mark and Luke. (Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven).

Hot, Clear Steam (Hot Cross Buns)

Hot, Clear Steam - sing it to the tune of 'Hot Cross Buns’ (Score below)

This might be helpful in thinking about the Trinity.

Hot, clear steam: hot, clear steam,

When it cools it turns into

a water stream.

If it keeps on cooling,

it will turn to ice.

So as steam cools down and down,

It changes twice.

Butterflies, flutter by:

caterpillars, chrysalids

until they fly.

Eggs to caterpillars

which in time pupate,

then emerge with gorgeous wings 

as they change state.

Toads and frogs, start as spawn,

tadpoles soon, grow breathing gills

as they change form .

then as they develop,

tails will disappear,

legs grow strong to swim and jump 

In pond or air.

Father, Son: Spirit come,

never changing, Everlasting 

Three-in-one.

God our great Creator,

Jesus, Lord and King

loves to care for everyone

and everything.

Rosemary For Remembrance

Order the download HERE

This very modest cost download from Wlild Goose Publications/ Iona Books (£2-64) has a simple, tried and tested activity suitable for collective worship/ assembly about Easter or an All – Age service on Easter day. There are three other items for late Lent: a poem ‘Wood and Nails’ which links Jesus’ birth, life before his ministry and Crucifixion; a short meditative poem for Good Friday, and ‘Bleak Sabbath’ imagining how Jesus’ followers might have felt on the day after Good Friday.

In addition, there is other unusual Lent, Holy Week and Easter material for general use HERE

I Believe: Lots of reasons to believe - in this NEW song of God and science

Let the children sing!

Eighth in the series of ‘ Sing of God and Science’ songs from Ely cathedral - ‘I Believe'

Find another eight ‘Sing of God and Science’ song video-clips at http://bit.ly/2tZyC8L 

And eleven more scores and words at http://crossandcosmos.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

All songs in these two series are covered by Creative Commons Licence

‘Creation’: I see the moon, I see the stars, I see the planets, Saturn and Mars...I want to thank you Lord for these

Let the children sing!
Seventh in the series of ‘ Sing of God and Science’ songs from Ely cathedral - ‘Creation'

Find another eight ‘Sing of God and Science’ song video-clips at http://bit.ly/2tZyC8L 

And eleven more scores and words at http://crossandcosmos.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

All songs in these two series are covered by Creative Commons Licence

The Wonders of the World are in the Eye of the Beholder, Our Almighty Lord Guides Our Way... Another NEW Science and Faith song

Let the children sing!
Sixth in the series of ‘ Sing of God and Science’ songs from Ely cathedral - ‘Power of Nature'

Find another eight ‘Sing of God and Science’ song video-clips at http://bit.ly/2tZyC8L 

And eleven more scores and words at http://crossandcosmos.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

All songs in these two series are covered by Creative Commons Licence

Another morning. Another miracle, Light returns and life goes on. Another NEW Science and Faith song

Let the children sing!
Fifth in the series of ‘ Sing of God and Science’ songs from Ely cathedral - 'Endless Love'

Find another eight ‘Sing of God and Science’ song video-clips at http://bit.ly/2tZyC8L 

And eleven more scores and words at http://crossandcosmos.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

All songs in these two series are covered by Creative Commons Licence