THE CROSS UNFOLDS A PATH WITHIN

The Cross unfolds a path within

Verse 1
Upon the hill where Christ was slain,
He bore the weight of sin;
A spark was lit within my soul,
New life began within.

Verse 2
No longer bound by sin’s harsh chain,
Its grip is torn away;
A deeper strength now stirs in me,
A light for night and day.

Verse 3
The Cross unfolds a path within,
Where hidden grace is found;
Amid the rush of daily life,
God’s silence speaks profound.

Verse 4
An anchorite within my heart,
A sacred, quiet place;
Where Christ abides in stillness deep,
And fills my soul with grace.

Verse 5
O mystery of Love Divine,
That draws my soul to Thee;
Through Cross and death I rise anew,
In truth and liberty.

Verse 6
So let the world in turmoil turn,
Its fleeting shadows fall;
For Christ now lives and reigns within,
My Life, my Lord, my All.

The above hymn is structured in Common Meter (8.6.8.6) so it can be sung to well-known tunes such as Amazing Grace. The tune "Amazing Grace" is in the public domain. This means that it can be used freely without permission.

The hymn was inspired by Matthew Chapter 27

Image courtesy of ChatGPT with CN Whittle "The Cross of Christ" 

A GREAT AND MIGHTY WONDER

 

Devoted Reverend Vanessa Wyse Jackson, deeply attuned to the mystery of the Incarnation, held a special love for the hymn, "A Great and Mighty Wonder."

During the holy season of Nativity, she gently ensured that the hymn found its place within the liturgy, believing that the ancient words and solemn melody helped to bring hearts into quiet expectation.

For Reverend Vanessa, the hymn was more than music; it was a doorway into contemplation, echoing the eternal Word entering time. The sacred hymn invites all who hear it to prepare with reverence and awe for the coming of Christ.

A GREAT AND MIGHTY WONDER

Verse 1;

A great and mighty wonder, 

A full and holy cure;

The Virgin bears the Infant, 

With Virgin honour pure!

Repeat the hymn again:

"To God on high be glory

And peace on earth to men!" 

Verse 2;

The Word becomes incarnate

And yet remains on high;

And cherubim sing anthems

To shepherds from the sky.

Repeat the hymn again:

"To God on high be glory

And peace on earth to men!"

Verse 3:

While thus they sing your Monarch,

Those bright angelic bands,

Rejoice, ye vales and mountains,

Ye oceans, clap your hands.

Repeat the hymn again:

"To God on high be glory

And peace on earth to men!"

Verse 4:

Since all He comes to ransom,

By all be He adored;

The Infant born in Bethl'em

The Saviour and the Lord.

Repeat the hymn again:

"To God on high be glory

And peace on earth to men!"

Verse 5:

And idol forms shall perish,

And error shall decay,

And Christ shall wield His scepter,

Our Lord and God for aye.

Repeat the hymn again:

"To God on high be glory

And peace on earth to men!"

A Great and Mighty Wonder is an ancient carol based around the words of St Germanus (c 634 - 732), traditionally sung to the tune "Es is ein Ros entsprungen" published in "Alte Catholische Geistliche Kirchengesang" (Köln, Germany, 1599) and harmonised by Michael Praetorius (1571-1621). 

The words of St Germanus were translated by John Mason Neale (1818-1866).

                                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snkX6SxWAiw

With thanks to Youtube

Image courtesy of ChatGPT with CN Whittle "Nativity Scene with Angels and Animals" 

GOD IS MUSIC, GOD IS LIFE

TO the Trinity be praise!

      God is music, God is life

 that nurtures every creature in its kind.

Our God is the song of the angel throng

    and the splendor of secret ways

    hid from all humankind,

But God our life is the life of all.

                              Hildegard of Bingen

                                               Twelfth century

 

THE NOTES SHIMMER

 

YOU take the pen,

    and the lines dance.

You take the flute,

and the notes shimmer....

You take the brush,

and the colours sing.

So all things have meaning and beauty

in that space beyond time where you are.

How, then, can I hold back anything from you?

                                  Dag Hammerskjöld

Image courtesy of ChatGPT with CN Whittle "The Three Monks" 

MUSIC IS SWEET FROM THE THRUSH'S THROAT

 

MUSIC is sweet from the thrush's throat!

       Oh little thrush

   With the holy note,

Like a footstep of God in a sick-room's hush

     My soul you crush.

Unstopped organ, from earth you break,

     To knock at the skies,

     And I can but shake

My fragile fetters, and with you rise

    Into Paradise.

But Love, your music requires not wings.    

     To the common breed

      It clings, and sings:

"Heaven on earth is Heaven indeed.

       This is my creed."                                 E.E. Cummings

Image courtesy of ChatGPT with CN Whittle, "Song thrush in bloom with sunlight"

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL READERS

Happy Easter to all readers.

May blessings be with you and your loved ones

at this time of peace, joy and goodwill.

A candle has been lit in 

remembrance of all. 

Image: source unknown. With thanks to the creator

THE BUILDERS BUILT THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD

SO THE BUILDERS built the Temple of the Lord. And the priests stood arrayed in their vestments, with musical instruments and trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, praising the Lord and blessing Him, according to the directions of King David of Israel; they sang hymns, giving thanks to the Lord, "For His Goodness and His Glory are forever upon all Israel."

And all the people sounded trumpets and shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord for the building of the House of the Lord. Some of the Levitical priests and heads of ancestral houses, old men who had seen the former house, came to the building of this one with outcries and loud weeping, while many came with trumpets and a joyful noise, so that the people could not hear the trumpets because of the weeping of the people.

Esdras 5:58-65

Image "Trumpeters" with Chatgpt and CN Whittle