Lyrical Riffs

This footprint, this turf, this moment, This carpet, this concrete, this rocky path, This holy ground. This church, this stadium, this field, This shop, this cinema, this school, This holy …

I really love the way you’re rooted in reality, Well acquainted with sweat and spit and stress, Acquainted with fears and grief and frustration. A human being, moved into our …

And so this festive season falls once more, The Autumn hues melting into hopeful wonder, Perhaps snow will twinkle like so many diamonds, Sprinkled liberally across the winter ground. Carols …

The myrrh rolls down the ages, as does the frankincense and gold, Three gifts now etched in history, in songs and stories told. Strange gifts for a baby, not a …

In the house, on the street, In the places where we meet, In the bath, or on the loo, When we’re making the stew. When we’re huffing and puffing And …

That person on the street, That stranger on the seat, That quiet old man, That woman with a plan, That cleaner, that assistant, That person in a hurry, Those faces …

The glimpses of full life, The offerings of love and help, The moments of peace and calm, The now and the not-yet. The reminders of a better way, The signs …

Don’t want to be told who I am, By the flash and the pressure, Of the advertising scam. Don’t want to be told what I need, By deceptive messages fuelling …

Thank you Lord that you choose us, No reservation, no love held back, Thank you Lord that you choose us, Not because we are perfect, But because you are gracious …

For all the precious lives given, For all the lives laid down, For those who served And continue to serve. For the courage and the quiet strength, For so many …

With each new dawn and with the fading of the day, We choose to think on the gift of a moment of goodness. Though we are often worn down by …

Why are we so down, why do we think God has forgotten us? ‘God is not on my case,’ we might say, ‘His focus is elsewhere.’ Have we forgotten so …

Let there be light, Good light, strong light, warm light, So that those walking in darkness May see the way to go. The light shines in the gloom, And though …

The nights close in, as the veil of autumn falls, With tumbling daylight hours, and its golden leafy sprawls, Lights twinkle from the skies, and through partly curtained windows, As …

Perfect love can drive it out, a love beyond our own, The fear that can grip us on a daily basis, Fear of the past, the future, the present, Of …

‘Now one day,’ the prophet says, Perhaps standing in the town square as they speak, ‘The earth will be filled with the awareness Of the glory of God, as the …

Bones are popular this time of year, bones and cobwebs and darkness, ghosts and grim apparitions in white sheets, and masks fixed in a permanent scream. So it is, that …

Peace on earth, and goodwill to all, The longings rise up, the questions, the call. Peace on earth, promised long ago, When the tiniest child arrived here below. Peace on …

Running on empty, running on full, Your grace is the fuel that helps face it all. Running on empty, lost for words, Struggling to achieve, to be seen or heard. …

Keeping going, nothing spectacular, faithfully walking, Long obedience in a good direction, Trudging on, setting your face, inspiring others, Drawing them to look where you are looking too. One foot …

I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He prunes every branch in me that bears fruit. Lord, that’s easy to read, trips off the tongue, But …

Gratitude If you had not entrusted yourself to us, Where would we be, I wonder. If you had not entrusted yourself To that young poor couple in Bethlehem, If you …

If you had not entrusted yourself to us, Where would we be, I wonder. If you had not entrusted yourself To that young poor couple in Bethlehem, If you had …

I still believe, though I’m often haunted by doubt, I still believe, though the road goes uphill at times. I still believe in truth though life has its shams, I …

We are born. We cry. We fill nappies and drink milk. His love, his kindness, his caring presence is always with us. We grow. We struggle. We learn. We tumble. …

Lord we pray today for peace in your world, For those working to bring peace, For those longing to live in peace, For those with the power to offer peace. …

What of our prayers and praying? They are like a hand reaching for help and comfort And something solid for ourselves and others, A song we make up as we …

To offer it all, our whole being, the bits we like and the bits we don’t. Like Jacob wrestling with an angel, we wrestle in our love for God, We …

To live a life with open hands, I think must be a wonderful thing, Risky, and vulnerable, of course Yet also free of the compulsion to hold onto things, Free …

It matters What we put in, What we take on board, What we absorb and hold on to. Or to put it another way, The saying goes: Feed the healthy …

Give justice to our leaders, O God, May it top their to-do list. Help them judge and guide your people in the right way, Let the poor always be treated …

Fretting We fret about so many things Surviving, success, stability, Being accepted, being strong, Our looks, our finances, our family. Those we love, those we like, those we fear, Our …

Far from random, no accident or evolutionary hiccup. But a plan for meaning, a people known and designed. Flawed yes, so flawed, but offered a rescue plan. A daily beginning …

If you are the Way, the winding path, Then surely nobody knows how to get home Without you. If you are the Life, the source, Then perhaps nobody breathes or …

Calling Lord we long for you, As dry ground longs for rain, As sports fans long for a win, As weary travellers long for rest. Lord we thirst for you, …

A many layered gift, Moving us from darkness to light, From fear to compassion, From rejection to welcome, From lost to found, (Though we may struggle to find ourselves at …

A welcoming figure, Standing here on the road to life, Waiting each day for us to return, Limping up this potholed path, Our hands and hearts and minds Empty enough …

Lord, please, tune us in to your ordinary whispers, and the signs of your presence, in the regular and ordinary. Show us the footprints and fingerprints you leave, throughout each …

Blessed are the spiritually poor, Those who struggle at times, Those who find the going tough, Those who do not feel very spiritual. Those who find the narrow road a …

The human heart is rather like an old attic. It is a place of storage, a place of memories. We wander through it and discover things long forgotten, things we …

Not about the right words, Or the right background, Or best behaviour, Not about religion or being earnest, Or the right spiritual credentials. But a place of refuge, A safe …

Faith, hope and love, How we need them, Yet we so easily lose sight of them. Faith, like a flickering candle, Battered in each day’s breeze. Hope, the compass that …

Today we may not feel as if we are Star of the week, Again. Just feeling ordinary, nothing special, Aspiring to a level we will never make, And yet… and …

Known Eliashib and Hassenaah, Baruch, Zaccur, Jedaiah, Meremoth and Azariah, Palal, Rehum, Hashabiah, Zadok, Jadon, Malkijah, Hanun, Shallum, Rephaiah. You may not know any of these, Or even say their …

I lift my eyes up to the mountains, To the sky, to that wide open plain above The trees, the homes, the skyscrapers, To that space beyond the borders, Beyond …

He is with us on the hills we climb, (Often feeling like mountains to us) Hills we cannot avoid, Hills of our own making, The hills thrust upon us. The …

He has made this troubled wilderness his home, He’s walked through the valley of the shadows here, This Good Shepherd, come to save his sheep, The king in dusty, creased, …

Hold on to the good stuff, The encouragements and smiles, Those things that spur you on, Those things that lift you and Point you in the right direction, The lessons …