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.

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

 

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

Spirituality and Science Gallery No 5

This small collection of three images on eye-catching backgrounds brings the number to twelve in this new enterprise for The Cross and The Cosmos.

These and other extracts of earlier poems 

have been mounted on attractive backgrounds

 by my Grandson, Thomas Whitehead, 

to whom I am very grateful.

Further images will be posted from time to time and we will be working to provide pdf images to allow any of these images to be printed and possibly used as conversation starters about God and Science

Each picture in the gallery is drawn from either 

NASA, Pixabay or my own images.

Image Credit Pixabay

To access all three verses of this prayer for guidance

when using the internet CLICK HERE 

Image Credit Pixabay

To access all four verses of this

easily learned children’s song

(for primaries) CLICK HERE 

Image credit NASA

To access the whole of the 

short prose-poem

 from which this is an extract

CLICK HERE

#COP25 Sing in support of the conference aims from this threefold pamphlet

On the opening day of #COP25 Five Climate concern hymns and a children’s song formatted to produce as a threefold (A4) sheet. All are written to tunes that will be familiar to church/ chapel musicians and many choir leaders. I was delighted to have a Buddhist comment favourably on the language used at Friday’s Silent Rebellion meditation in Cambridge’s (UK) Grafton Centre.

The words of the separate hymns or the song will be more easily copied from this version of the song set posted a short on this blog a short while ago

All the hymn words and the song are (c) Trevor Thorn but you are welcome to use them as widely as possible to promote climate concern anywhere.

We Have a Lovely Planet

This children’s song, ‘We Have a Lovely Planet (for Key Stages 1 & 2) is an advance issue of one of the songs which will be incorporated in a new songbook of 30 songs titled ’Sing of God and Science’ due to be published by Kevin Mayhew in June 2020: so watch this site to learn more as the publication date comes nearer.

Credit NASA: Blue Marble

The purpose of the book is to make it better understood that science and faith can complement each other in showing the glory of God in his Universe. There are a few more songs in the same vein on this blog they can be found at the address shown below.

However, it is very appropriate to post this this particular song on this, the day of protest by children across the world demanding that politicians take the issues surrounding climate chaos seriously. So this song is published in solidarity with that youthful generation who are going to have to live with the mistakes of the older post-war generations: they deserve all the support and encouragement they can get. Well done! all of you.

Why not ask for this hymn to be sung in collective worship times in school to help keep the issues sharply in focus. And, Oh Yes! Some of you might be able to write better songs on the subject - which could be one of your contributions to keep the profile of the issue where it needs to be: top of the political and economic agenda

We have a lovely planet

For God’s creatures all to share

He asked us to be kind to it,

Look after it with care:

There’s lots of things we can do

To tend to God’s creation;

Look after plants and animals

And people of all nations.

Cars and things with engines

Are harmful to the air.

We can walk and cycle,

Help save the world we share.

And as we look around us

At birds and bugs and trees

We thank God for creation

Asking ‘Help us love it, please’.

Now pricey bottled water

Is the same as from the tap

Both of them are H₂0

So why the costly gap?

The charge is for the bottles

Which at sea disintegrate

Into a billion fragments

Sealing birds’ and fishes’ fates.

Then in a spoken chant

You could buy a flask, to fill as you need,

Your water stays cool,

It’s a ‘Save God’s Earth’ deed.

Further Care of The Planet songs, hymns and poems can be found at https://crossandcosmos.blogspot.com/p/care-of-planet-collection.html

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

First Day of the Week - A story for Palm Sunday

Crown of Thorns - cosmic storm

The concept of building an imaginary story or meditation from a time of reflection on a Bible passage is one I feel drawn to from time to time. This one imagines the experience of a citizen of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The title ‘First Day’ derives from the Hebrew practice of naming their days by numbers for each day of the week.

The poem might also help to think a little about why an estactic crowd shouting ‘Hosanna’ on Sunday turned to ‘Crucify’ just five days later.

First Day of The Week

It was the strangest of First Days

I had ever known.

In the Temple, on the Sabbath,

the day before,

there had been whispers,

lots of rumours

that the long awaited Messiah

was coming.

The strongest and strangest rumour

was that it was Jesus,

carpenter-turned-Rabbi from Nazareth.

That felt improbable on both counts – 

a carpenter – from Nazareth?

But it was being said he had healed people

and given food to huge crowds up in Galilee.

He was, they said,

coming with a band of followers,

both men and women.

Coming from Bethany, they said.

So there I was,

waiting by the City gate

in the midst of an expectant, excited crowd.

If this was the moment 

The accursed Romans were to be swept away

I wanted to be part of it.

I had paused at the door before leaving

wondering about taking a dagger.

But if it all went wrong

and I was found by a soldier with a dagger;

that would mean prison at best

or more likely, crucifixion.

So I contented myself with the stout stick

I use when walking distances.

Heavy enough to break a sword arm

or do serious damage to a Roman skull,

and easy to toss away if pursued.

When I arrived, I noticed 

There were a lot of similar ‘walking sticks’ around;

the soldiers eyed them

and put hands meaningfully 

on vicious swords.

We waited.

People were growing restless,

then from the hill below came a

bubbling excited sound 

with the word ‘Hosanna’ being often repeated.

It grew louder,

and I stood on a boulder

to see what was happening.

That was a noisy, noisy group,

surrounding a man

who was obviously their Leader –

head high above the rest.

It was difficult to see

how he was that height – 

not high enough to be on a horse

which would have been logical

if he was going to lead a coup.

So perhaps on a portable platform,

maybe incorporating a throne:

that would make sense.

When they got closer, 

I could hear more of the chanting

‘Blessed is he who is coming

in the name of the Lord;

Hosanna, Hosanna’.

The crowd around the gate

were getting more and more excited

and taking up the cry

‘Hosanna, Hosanna’

and I admit I found myself shouting too -

even despite the presence 

of those accursed Roman soldiers.

It became more difficult to see,

Not easier!

People jumping up to get a view

and barging in front of me.

The shouting got louder and louder

and the soldiers grew more and more tense

as did the occasional Temple priest I saw

trying to look inconspicuous for once.

But me. I was adding my voice

To those of the hundreds – 

or was it thousands of restless,

jubilant people who clearly thought

they had found the Messiah.

Then the procession had to narrow

To get through the gate

so I could gradually see

some throwing coats down for him

with others tearing down palm branches

like a carpet.

Then suddenly I could see the Leader,

The one 

who was going to make Israel great again.

Hosanna!

Then, then, 

I could hardly believe my eyes.

This man, this great Leader,

This Messiah

Was riding 

A donkey!

A donkey, I ask you

What was that all about?

It stopped my ‘Hosannas’ dead in their tracks.

This is NOT someone 

who is about to send the Romans packing!

Oh! The disappointment of it!

Oh! The anti climax – the let-down.

How could I have been so beguiled?

I’m so angry with myself,

With the crowd-

But most of all with HIM.

HIM on a donkey – a donkey – a donkey

That’s what he has made of me.

I hate him

Even if others are going along with him:

I can’t imagine why.

I got away just as soon as I could.

If this helped to think about the change from ‘Hosanna’ to ‘Crucify’, you might also like to look at A Temple Trader’s Rant where there is a further link to ‘A Temple Trader’s Glee'