Lyrical Riffs

My thoughts are not yours, My way of thinking is different. Change our minds please, When we get lost in the maze of our selfishness, When we want to assert …

The enigma of his going away, Melting from this dimension to another, Leaving so that he can be with us. No longer occupying a single space, But in departing is …

The call to waste time, to risk everything on doing nothing, To step out of life’s traffic even for a few seconds. For a breath here and there, a pause …

To you O Lord I lift my soul, Don’t let me be ashamed or disappointed. Awaken my hope, Stir that faith that comes easily on good days. Please take the …

Not easy to be vulnerable When the world might want a show of strength. When control is the order of the day, When success impresses. Not easy to be vulnerable …

We all have our worries, all carry our fears… Embarrassment, making mistakes, shedding tears, Mice, spiders, zombies, rats, Wasps, fleas, bugs, bats. Whatever’s lurking under the bed, Things that we …

We sing our songs, recite our lines, Like incense rising up, Read our papers, preach online, Wonder where we might end up. We pose our questions, make our claims, And …

The creator takes up his palette, Paints, sketches, draws and doodles. Colours, hues, shades burst from the page, And a universe exploding with possibility is born. Stick people become three-dimensional, …

We come before you again today, With all we are and all we have, So much said and so much unsaid, Our words and our silence, Children of Dust. Precious, …

Long obedience in the same direction. Keeping going, In it for the long haul, A marathon rather than a sprint. Though some days we may feel As if we’ve fallen …

In you we live and move and exist: Your breath in a blade of grass, In a twinkling smile, In a mathematical calculation, In energy expended, And peace embraced. In …

Some of us still have sand in our pockets, Will carry it for the rest of our lives. A piece of the desert forever shaping us, That speck of dust …

In our fear and our panic, You are with us, In our confusions and questions, You are with us, When the news bombards us, You are with us. When the …

I love life, but it scares me. I believe in hope, but sometimes despair. I believe in caring but sometimes folks bug me. Some days I like them, some days …

One who knows sweat-soaked, bruised reality, A saviour who understands the cost of rescue, Has seen what it is to be truly trapped, Like a fly in a rain puddle, …

Judas. Hannah. David. Abigail. Paul. Peter. Pilate. Naomi. Thomas. Sara. Jacob. They all faced failure And responded in different ways. Judas couldn’t go on. Hannah prayed. David said sorry. Abigail …

If God chose us from before the foundation of everything, Then he chooses us today. If you can only play one note, Then play it. If you can only sing …

Today, In the large moments And the small ones, In our strength and weakness, In our confidence and fear. Alone and with others, Motivated and struggling, Lost and found, We …

Though we may struggle To see it, to know it, to feel it,Today We are yourLiving letters,Breathing Emails,Misspelled Texts,Pulsing Sketches,Vibrant Doodles,Funny Etch-a-sketch Pictures, Nuanced Designs.Bumbling Messages of Love,Etched, Printed,Drawn, Scribbled,Stamped, Scrawled…On our Weary, …

In a field… In heaven… In the darkness… Safe from thieves… A solid foundation… Where your heart is… Carried in fractured, damaged pots. Not the kind of wealth won Or …

We all have our ruins. Those bits we look back on And wish they had played out differently. The embarrassments and errors, The arguments and friction, The missttakes andd misda… …

Two worlds colliding, Fire and Ice, No wonder there is often trouble, Misunderstanding and mayhem. Agendas battling for supremacy. We shamble into the arena, Punch drunk boxers blinking in the …

He looked all wrong To those who wanted a shepherd In nice white clothes, With pristine feet and spotless hands. Was a problem for them, A disturbing conundrum. Yet was …

As we find ourselves here,Perched on the doorstep of a new year,Some things we can say we know, Some things we clearly don’t.We know that some of us welcome changes,Some prefer …

And so he is born. Not on the top of a tree, Or in a jolly fur-lined suit, But beside his exhausted mother, In a not-so silent night of blood, …

These waiting days, In a time of speed, In a time of haste. Songs download in a single click, Parcels get delivered the same day, Our meals microwaved in seconds, …

It all started way back then, When the garden of glory fell into disrepair, When the gates clanged shut, And the fiery angel stood guard, When temptation had arrived laced …

You made rhythms and seasons, Light and dark, sunrise and set. Sowing and harvesting, Sleeping, rising, play and rest. You made life, we made a clock. Tick Tock. Our bones …

Jesus knew that he had been given Power over all things, Secure, no need to prove himself, And so he knelt down and washed their feet. Knew he had complete …

Save us from the stones of false guilt, From the rocks of harsh judgement, The fingers so quick to point and accuse, The flinty words of insult and criticism. Save …

On any given day you might see A couple walking side by side, One in flip flops one in boots, One overly warm, The other not so much, Different together, …

We carry them around with us, All those extra bits and pieces We don’t really need. Hurts and pains, Disappointments and embarrassments, Misunderstandings and falling outs. Need a baggage handler, …

In the beginning… The breath of God, The hand of God, The imagination of God. Dust, a word and a vision. A new world bursting from a vacuum, Matter crammed …

Life is full of bumps and scrapes. Our knees get scratched, Our hands get scraped, Our pride gets bruised, Our hope gets crushed, Our faith gets tarnished, Our innocence pinched, …

Our lives are striped with complexities, Leisure and labour, Laughter and frustration, Kindness and callousness. Our lives are striped with complexities, Light and darkness, Bright and shade, Hope and sadness. …

There are times when the sound of love Is drowned out by the noise of hatred. When the sound of hope is drowned By the noise of fear. When welcome …

That place inside, The inner depths, That gap, that vacant lot, We do our best to fill it, To satisfy those longings. Unfortunately, We often put in there Things which …

Life ambushes us, Treats us harshly, Disappoints and discourages. You understand that. You know how it works, What can happen, What can hurt us. You were ambushed too, Conflict, disaster, …

The word became flesh And keeps moving into the neighbourhood, Occasionally with a crack of thunder, Or a Damascus Road flash of light, But more often in a smile shared, …

You put salt on our lips, To make us thirsty for you. You did it, do it, again and again… Through the friendship of others, The unexpected reminders, The warmth …

What kind of man is this?That he should keep on coming to the doorOf my heart, mind, consciousness,Through the long nights and the jagged days.Me in my confirmed and set …

‘You can be honest with me, no need to pretend. I know you’re a bit of a fake. A bit of a fraud. Because I know human beings. I know …

Keep going with the strength you have. Not with the strength you see others have, Not with the strength you think you should have, But because I am with you. …

You know these dark days, Have been there, Not being one who has held back, Or kept your distance. The sad days, the empty days, The fearful nights, the lonely …

In a world of chase, fuss and bustle, Fret and debilitating worry, One man offers another way, Offers an alternative as he washes feet. In a world of go-getting and …

When others sap our energy, You are our refuge and our strength, When life seems nothing but closed doors, You are our refuge and our strength. When the world keeps …

Funny how often I talk about you in the third person, He. His. Him. When you’re always in the room. As if you were somehow somewhere else. Busy. Unable to …

I am on your side, And I call you my friend. I am with you, and for you, Not against you. Nothing can separate you from me. Whatever life may …

The Joy of the Lord is our strength. Passed on in a smile, a kind word, a text, a call. In the midst of our fears and fretting. Sometimes framed …

We walk these strange and familiar Streets of faith and hope, Roads strewn with the debris of The false hopes and discarded burdens Of those who have walked before us. …