Out of the brokenness into the light of love

22 12 2017

In the light and the bustle of the day we have looked for you. 

In the darkness and the stillness of the night, we have longed for your presence. 

We have waited for your coming, we have anticipated your being.

And now you come into the world this Christmas Day, yet you have always been here.

Your hope, peace, joy and love overflows.  We wait no longer.  You are here.

 

We pray for your broken world, for our broken world.

We have examined our place within the garden of creation.

You gave us dominance over all creation, but we have abused that power.

We have seen the damage we as humans have done and are doing to our planet,

We have seen the animals, birds and insects we have eliminated, the fish and sea creatures we have endangered.

We have allowed economic greed and personal wealth to dominate sustainability.

We have kept your natural riches for ourselves instead of sharing with the poor and the weak.

 

As a people who have walked in the darkness of this broken world for so long,

We have seen a great light; our eyes have been opened.

In the light of your justice we see hope for our natural world.

In the light of your word we desire peace for our natural world.

In the light of your presence we find joy in caring for your beautiful world.

In the light of your love we embrace your forgiveness and find a desire within us to change.

Your hope is our hope,

your peace is our peace,

your joy is our joy,

your love is our love.

 

We pray for your broken church, for our broken church.

We have examined our place within the walls of your church.

You have given us the power to bring peace to places of conflict and turmoil, but we have abused that power.

We have allowed others to find terror instead of sanctuary within your church.

We have allowed rules and regulations to prevent us from taking love to the world.

We have seen the damage we, as your people, have done to others, driving them away from you instead of embracing them within the wings of love.

 

As a people who have walked in the darkness of this broken church for so long,

We have seen a great light; our eyes have been opened.

In the light of your justice we see hope for your church.

In the light of your word we desire peace within your church.

In the light of your presence we find joy in rebuilding your church.

In the light of your love we embrace forgiveness and find within us a desire to change.

Your hope is our hope,

your peace is our peace,

your joy is our joy,

your love is our love.

 

We pray for broken people everywhere; we pray for our broken selves.  

We have examined our place with the peoples of the world.

You give us opportunities to take love to the world, but we have overlooked those opportunities.

We have allowed our personal time and resources to become more precious than love.

We have allowed our personal desires for comfort and security to overtake our willingness to help others.

We have allowed ourselves to be silenced by those who spread intolerance and hate.

We have allowed ourselves to hide in the study and analysis of your word to the point we have made ourselves blind to injustice inflicted by governments and leaders in our name.

We do not live justly, we do not love kindness.  So how can we walk humbly with you?

 

As a people who have walked in the darkness of brokenness for so long,

We have seen a great light; our eyes have been opened.

In the light of your justice we see hope for ourselves.

In the light of your word we embrace peace for peoples everywhere.

In the light of your presence we find joy in helping others.

In the light of your love we find forgiveness and a desire within us to change.

Your hope is our hope,

your peace is our peace,

your joy is our joy,

your love is our love.

 

You have come into the world this Christmas Day, yet you have always been here.

In the light and the bustle of the day we find you. 

In the darkness and the stillness of the night, your presence comforts us. 

Your hope, peace, joy and love overflows.  We wait no longer.  You are here.


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A Broken People and the Gift of Joy

22 12 2017

We are broken, we are joyless.  Where is your joy, O God?

 

Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we take your creation for granted,

We take the apples of creation without considering the consequences.

We dig up minerals and we cut down trees,

We watch as the world cracks and dries,

We create useful things but then we discard them,

polluting the water we drink and the air that we breathe.

While destroying our home world, we will never be free.

 

We weep for our future and shed tears for our land.

We feel powerless to change so in silence we live.

Creator God, we are a broken people. Where is your joy?

 

Like Israelites of old, we feel captive in a foreign land,

Our people, our leaders don’t reflect the values you want.

Injustice, intolerance and disrespect are in abundance.

Compassion and kindness remain to be found.

Greed and power are the keys to success,

Like captives who lay down by the rivers of Babylon and wept,

We mourn for our country and the direction it follows.

 

We weep for our future and shed tears for our children.

We feel powerless to change so in silence we live.

Just God, we are a broken people.  Where is your joy?

 

Like the disciples before us, we hide from the storm.

We struggle with life, and we hide our true form.

We selfishly guard our treasured possessions,

We live in our boxes, community locked out.

While people are homeless, and the old are alone,

we walk by attached to a phone.

 

We weep for our future and shed tears for ourselves.

We feel powerless to change so in silence we live.

Comforting God, we are a broken people. Where is your joy?

 

Like the prophets of old we can be filled with your spirit,

we can experience your joy.

Within our brokenness we become like gold,

Out of our brokenness comes everlasting joy.

As we seek to live justice, to love kindness and walk humbly with you,

you heal our brokenness, you give us hope for the future, you give us peace in our world,

 

Help us to be just in the use of the world’s resources,

and put sustainability ahead of economic gain.

Encourage us to bring release to those who feel oppressed,

and offer strength and encouragement to those who suffer and grieve.

Give us words to pray with those who are ill,

and courage to hug those who are lost,

Help us to comfort the lonely

and love the unloved,

Embolden us to stand with those who seek liberation, freedom and love,

and remind our leaders and governments of the values we keep.

Let us find justice for those who are detained without crime,

and let us welcome the stranger and share what we have.

Fill us with your spirit that we may be as Christ to our broken world.

 

In the light and the bustle of the day we look for you.

In the darkness and the stillness of the night, we long for your presence.

In our waiting and anticipation, your joy overflows.

 

Give us grace to actively live justly in your world.

Grant us courage to be the people you would have us be.

Provide us with wisdom to walk humbly with you and in everlasting joy may we work to heal our broken world.

Come Lord Jesus, come.  We share your joy.

 

 

 

 


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The Broken Church and the Gift of Peace

9 12 2017

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to all. *

Comforting God, so often we become complacent in our faith,

The words of our liturgy, the singing of our songs,

Whilst wild and sweet the words repeat,

we find comfort and complacency within.

We avoid change, we seek not the challenge.

For it’s easier to keep the comfort of the boat than to walk upon the sea.

 

I thought how, as the day had come, The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to all! *

Shepherd God, we are called to be your sheep and to follow you, our shepherd.

Yet too often we allow those in positions of leadership and power within your church to become the shepherd,

We blindly follow not realising we are straying from your path.

We sit in silence as your broken church unravels.

We fail to test the words of the church against the words of Jesus.

Perhaps we are blind, perhaps we see,

But it’s easier to keep the comfort of the boat than to walk upon the sea.

 

And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said;

“For hate is strong, and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to all!” *

Just God, we are called to be like John, the voice crying in the wilderness,

Yet too often we opt for the easy approach.

We find it easier to say, ‘We don’t want your kind in here’ instead of ‘Stranger, Welcome’!

We find it easier to dismiss those of other cultures, other faiths,

than to discern your word within their beliefs, your love within their hospitality.

We allow our doctrine and regulations to limit our ability to love.

We are right, they are wrong,

For it’s easier to keep the comfort of the boat than to walk upon the sea.

 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to all.”  *

Eternal Herald – we are your voice in the wilderness, we are your John.

We know your church is not perfect, we are not perfect, but it is in you that we trust and hope.

Let us speak out from within our broken church, and make straight your paths.

For in the reality of the broken church we find opportunities for healing, for grace, for hope, for peace.

Let us leave the comfort of the boat, let us walk upon the sea.

 

In the light and the bustle of the day we look for you.

In the darkness and the stillness of the night, we long for your presence.

In our waiting and anticipation, we seek your peace.

 

Give us grace to actively live in harmony within your church.

Grant us courage to be the church you would have us be.

Provide us with wisdom to find ways of healing your church as we take your gift of peace to our broken world.

Come Lord Jesus, come, for in you, we will find peace.

  • * Words by Henry Longfellow

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A Broken World and the Gift of Hope

2 12 2017

As we look around our world, your world, we see beauty and majesty in the living, breathing natural world around us.

We walk the bush paths and feel the wind as it blows gently through the trees,

We hear the fluttering of the wings of birds,

We see spiders and their intricate webs glistening in morning mist.

We see creatures scurrying through the bush looking for shelter and protection. 

We walk along the beaches and feel the golden sun on our backs

We feel the crinkly sand between our toes,

We hear the gentle lapping of the waves on the beach,

We see mighty creatures rise from the depths with a rush of spray,

We see joy in their eyes as they crash back into the sea. 

For the beauty and majesty of your world, our world, we give you thanks.

 

Yet when we look further, we see a world that is in crisis.

We see temperatures rising along with the seas;

We see the brown haze of smog in the air.

We see droughts and floods and cyclones and fires.

We see coral that is dying,

We see scars on the land where we have ripped apart your creation;

We see forests disappearing;

We see islands of plastic in the sea;

We see animals in pain, choking on the rubbish we have left behind;

We see species disappearing because of our neglect.

We see the tears of your world as it begs us to stop.

Creator God, your world, our world, is hurting.  We have broken your world. 

 

As we look around our world, your world, we see we have done well.

We see great cities we have built;

We see dams that provide our water;

We see farms that provide our food;

We see people of different faiths, different ethnic backgrounds, different genders living together in harmony going about their daily lives;

We see people making advances in science;

We see people who want to go to Mars and beyond;

We see Popes and Archbishops, Rabbis and Muftis working and praying together;

We see police and fireman and doctors and nurses working to make our lives comfortable and safe. 

For the diversity of our humanity, for those who care and provide in your world, our world, we give you thanks.

 

Yet when we look further, we see a world that is suffering and in pain.

We see people playing with nuclear toys;

We see leaders who put power ahead of their people;

We see extremists using terror to conquer;

We see cities destroyed in anger;

We see people without limbs in make-shift hospitals wondering what just happened;

We see people fleeing in fear, from war, from persecution;

We see people without a crime living in detention;

We see people without justice;

We see people longing for someone, anyone, to care.

Just and compassionate God, your world, our world, is hurting.  We have broken your world. 

 

As we look around our world, your world, we see happiness and joy.

We see our friends and neighbours,

We wave and say Gidday.

We see the people seated next to us in church.

we rejoice in the friendship and the fellowship we share together. 

We shake hands and share your peace,

We sing psalms and we praise your name. 

We sing carols in the park;

We ‘Ooo’ and ‘Arrr’ as the fireworks light up the sky.  

We look forward to our coming together at Christmas, the laughter and joy of family. 

For the joys of family and friends, for the laughter and the fun, for the food on our tables, for the homes in which we live, for the churches in which we worship, we give you thanks.

 

Yet when we look further, we see communities in pain.

We see people who are suffering though illness;

We see people doing it tough, struggling to pay bills;

We see strangers in the street who smile as they walk by,

strangers who behind the smile are wondering how they can give their kids any sort of joy this Christmas;

We see lives destroyed by drugs and alcohol;

We see people who have gambled away their lives, their families;

We see people who will be lonely this Christmas, alone in their homes;

We see people sleeping in the streets who have no home;

We see people without a future,

We see people who fear what the future will bring.

Loving and merciful God – your world, our world, is hurting.  We have broken your world. 

 

Eternal Potter, we are your clay, you mould us.  Isaiah told us that.

In this broken world, you give us hope.

in the light and the bustle of the day we look for you. 

In the darkness and the stillness of the night, we long for your presence. 

In our waiting and anticipation, you give us hope. 

 

Give us grace to live in harmony with your world.

Grant us courage to be the people you would have us be.

Provide us with the wisdom to find ways of taking your gift of hope to our broken world. 

Come Lord Jesus, come, for our hope rests in you. 


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The Peace We Seek

15 09 2009

The following piece, The Peace We Seek, was inspired by a recent 9-week course I did. The course was conducted by Scott Vaswer from OnEarth. The course was centred around the SBS series, The First Australians, and consisted of 9 sessions discussing and trying to relate to the First Australians’ experience of white rule in Australia. The course was conducted at the invitation of PeaceChurch, an experimental ecumenical para-church, of which I am a member of the Steering Committee.

 

The indigenous people of Australia are thought to have migrated to Australia from South East Asia around 50,000 years ago, perhaps even as long ago as 100000 years ago. They probably first encountered this country near modern day Darwin or even in the north of what is now Western Australia.

Over time they spread out through the mainland until they occupied pretty much the whole country, living and developing in to distinct cultural and linguistic groups, which became individual nations.

These nations engaged in trade and cultural exchange and developed complex legal, social and spiritual systems that knew boundaries similar to the boundaries that exist between nations today around the world.

They developed a spiritual awareness which permeated every part of their culture and socio-economic systems. This spiritual awareness as we can see in many of their stories extended to a deep understanding of and communion with the natural environment that surrounded them.

For 40-50,000 years these social religious environmental economic systems developed in a way that seems to have been almost at one with the country in which they lived.

Into this system, came firstly the incidental explorer and trader, but then 220 years ago this country was invaded by a totally different, almost opposing culture that had developed literally on the other side of the world.

Naturally, problems arose from the beginning. Health, land and cultural issues caused a great deal of pain within the indigenous population, exacerbated by the fact that those who came saw the indigenous inhabitant as less than nobody, less than human and the country as ‘Terra Nullous’ – a land inhabited by nobody.

Move on 221 years to a little church in Wembley Downs in Western Australia.

About two years ago, this church involved itself in somewhat of an experimental para-church project, which we have called PeaceChurch. PeaceChurch’s mission is to explore non-violent resolution to conflict. We recognise conflict exists in all aspects of life and that sometimes we need to accept that conflict will continue to exist, but hopefully we can find ways to move through the conflict and hopefully come out the other side with ways of moving forward even though the conflict itself is still there. We can accept differences, we can accept differing views, we can even accept differing goals, but within that we can still move forward with a Christ-centred common experience. We can both change but also not-change.

Over the two years we have explored this idea of idea of ‘peace within conflict’, we have discovered that one of the keys is to listen. Listen to what each other has to say, listen to what each other’s grievances are, listen to how we view each others’ strengths and weaknesses.

Out of that idea of listening came the idea of travelling on a listening journey – a journey that had no aim of solving problems, no aim of achieving goals and no desire to impose one view over another. Just listen and hopefully, perhaps understand. And then maybe some sort of journey could happen together.

An obvious candidate for a context in which to embark on this listening journey was the story of the inter-twining of the lives of the new white settlers and that of the indigenous population of this, our own country. Hence we began the PeaceChurch OnEarth Listening journey using the SBS series The First Australians as a catalyst for our exploration and listening with Scott Vawser leading from the front or maybe he was pushing from behind.

The course and associated discussion was brilliant and it culminated in a weekend retreat to Mandurah and a wonderful trip to several remote communities in the Kimberley. It was an inspiring experience that opened my eyes to something I vaguely knew about. As I listened to the stories and became more a-tune to listening, it occurred to me that the journey was rather like the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. As the disciples listened and engaged in hospitality, the stranger vanished. If we take the time to listen to our indigenous sisters and brothers, then maybe the strangers among us will also vanish.

 

The Peace We Seek

 

I met the man unexpectedly,

I neither heard nor saw him,

He just appeared behind me, saying

Hey man – is it peace you seek?

 

We walked the dry and dusty road,

And I was so thirsty for the truth,

I listened as He talked about

Living the peace we seek.

 

Acknowledge misdeeds of the past he said,

The misunderstandings and even the hate,

Denying the stealing and the crying children,

Will only darken the peace you seek.

 

As we walked the road together,

His words rang loud and true,

Walk together; share the load, he called.

You’ll see the peace you seek.

 

By exercising your responsibilities,

He said, as we journeyed on,

By building relationships, showing respect,

That’s what will bring the peace you seek.

 

In times of silence with meditation, he said,

Perhaps via tears and inner pain,

Through confession and forgiveness,

‘Sorry!’ a light will be, on the peace you seek.

 

He talked some more, I listened intently,

on that dry and dusty road.

We finally arrived at our destination,

And I could almost feel the peace we seek.

 

It is in the dance and the stories, he continued,

In the trees and in the stars,

It is through the Spirits and the Dreaming,

That you can see the peace you seek.

 

Show some love and understanding.

Work at tolerance and friendship.

Share the joy, the happiness and hope,

For there, in that place, is the peace you seek.

 

A black ‘fella’ carrying a cross, he was.

And as he broke the bread and gave thanks for the wine

This is what it’s all about, he said.

For together, we can live the peace we seek.

©2009 Steve Mellor


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Down to Preside and all I can hear are the Sounds of Silence

8 05 2009

Well here it is – Saturday afternoon. I sit at my computer, staring at the screen, wondering “what can I say?” I’ve got the rest of the service organised, but the introduction to Communion – what can I say? The silence is deafening. But in the silence I realise that the sound of silence is not really silence at all. Rather the silence is filled by the background noises that continually invade our silent personal space.

I can hear the traffic on the road outside; the sound of cheers from the oval across the road; the sound of neighbours opening their back door and putting rubbish in their bin; the sound of the washing machine churning back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, in an almost hypnotic silence; the sound of the kids doing…whatever it is they are doing – what are they doing? The sounds of life, the sounds of the world doing what it does – the sounds of silence. If I let it, the sounds of silence would overtake my desire to get something down for tomorrow’s communion talk. Focus! I have to focus.

The sounds of silence I think to myself. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sang a song about the sounds of silence. How did it go? I think I remember some of the words…

‘Hello darkness my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains, within the sounds of silence.’

My mind is empty. But as I sit and think amidst the sounds of silence, images begin to form; thoughts begin to germinate. A vision, perhaps planted while I was sleeping, begins to invade my sounds of silence.

I remembered that Wendy was arranging some displays which promote the protection of the environment, and which encourage us to do our bit in saving the planet, our home. So the wandering through the dark recesses of my mind takes an uncontrollable environmental turn.

And as the vision of the environment softly creeps into my brain, I become, as I am wont to do every now and then, all gee-d up about reducing green house gases and saving the Orang-utan, and protecting the sharks whose fins are so callously cut from their writhing bodies, by illegal fishermen. I think of the forests that are mercilessly cut from the ground, so large coffee plantations can grow and become ever-more profitable. And what about the destruction of the Amazon rain forest and the never-ending debate about logging in our own Australian forests. And climate change…don’t talk to me about climate change!

And suddenly the sounds of silence are replaced by the noisy gongs of protest. “Death to the whalers” I cry in the silence of my mind! My empty mind becomes filled with the noise of shouts and cries – But what can I do? What can I do? I want to save the planet – but what can I, one single person, do? No, wait! I can’t think of that now. I’ve got a service to prepare for tomorrow. I’ve got more important things to focus on for the moment.

And slowly the noisy gongs stop their clanging and settle into the sounds of silence once more.

I stare at the screen. No words magically appeared. The page on the computer screen, like my mind, remains blank.

And my sounds of silence continue their endless journey to every recess of my mind, every now and then invaded by that song.

“In restless dreams I walked alone narrow streets of cobblestone.” Hmmm…Paul Simon – where is that CD? Wait – I’ve got that song right here on my computer, no need to get up… Ah yes, here it is. “‘Neath the halo of a street lamp, I turned my collar to the cold and damp when…”

As the beautiful sound of Art Garfunkel’s voice and the melodic twang of Simon’s acoustic guitar washed over my empty brain, I found myself peering at one of the many news sites on the internet. Headline – “And the Oscar goes to Heath Ledger’s daughter”. Boring! Another boring article about illegal fishing and Ooo! An earthquake in Melbourne – that’s interesting. Oh, and here’s an article about the Salvation Army and their tireless work in feeding rescue workers and fire-fighters after the recent bushfires in Victoria…hmmm…bush fires…rescue workers, fire-fighters …victims!!

“…my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light that split the night and touched the sounds of silence”.

Suddenly, somehow, the sounds of silence dissipated and were replaced by thoughts of the poor fishermen who live in the impoverished villages in Indonesia, and even the fishermen who live in our own city. Every day it seems they lose part of their fishing grounds because of environmental concerns. What about their right to work? What about their right to bring home food for their family and their right to earn money to buy clothes and school equipment and toys for their kids? What about the poor villagers who struggle to grow a crop of Palm trees or to work a small plantation producing coffee beans? What about the rights of the poor in the cities to have clean water to drink? We have to build dams to provide water for the cities, but then the rivers dry up and the poor who live out from the cities are forced to walk miles just to get a jug of water for their kids. What about them? And if we close the polluting factories – what about all those jobs. All those people losing their jobs will have mortgages and they’ll lose their houses.

Wow!…Saving the environment has consequences. Make a note – I need to think about this a bit more…but not now. Communion – focus!

And once again, the sounds of silence over take me. My fingers tap the keys without writing anything. What am I going to say? What can I say?

There is a screech of tyres right outside. I wait for the crash. Doh! Missed! The washing machine goes ballistic – sounds like it’s about to explode – unbalanced I thought. Linda will get it. Artie and Paul sing on…

“And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more – people talking without speaking; people hearing without listening; people writing songs that voices never share, and no one dared disturb the sounds of silence.”

I stared at the screen and thought to myself “so this is what an empty mind is like”. Coffee – I need coffee. I walked to the kitchen and turned on the kettle and waited by the kitchen bench. You know, those sounds of silence go everywhere; only now we have the added sound of water heating up. I stared out the kitchen window.

I don’t know, I thought, blocking out the sound of the kettle. What did that Psalm say? Ah yes, that was it – “For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.”

Well, maybe I could say something like this, I thought.

“While ever there is suffering and pain; while ever there is greed and poverty, while ever there is injustice, God will be there, his arms draped around those hurting, feeling the pain with them. God stands alongside the marginalised; God swings in the trees with the Orang-utan in its ever decreasing habitat. God swims in the oceans with the ever decreasing number of fish and sharks and turtles. God waits for us to come.”

I consider this for a second – God waits. All the while, God waits for us to come…waits for us to come and help…but what can I do? How can I help?

Well at least I’ve got something to work with now. But as I pour the water into the cup, the sounds of silence again invade my brief moment of brilliance. The kids are arguing. “Shut up!” I think to myself. I’m trying to think!

“Fools” said I, “You do not know silence like a cancer grows.” The words of Paul Simon again feed into the other sounds of silence. “Hear my words that I might teach you; take my arms that I might reach you.” Almost sounds like words you might hear from Jesus, I think to myself. “But my words like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of silence.”

Having got my coffee I’m back sitting in front of the computer with my fingers poised expectantly over the keyboard. C’mon fingers. Do your stuff. What was that thought I had before? I take a sip of coffee. Damn! That’s hot. Oh yes that was it. God waits. God waits. And then out of the blue, I think to myself – I could add this too.

“God also stands with the impoverished palm-oil farmer and coffee-bean grower. God sits on the boats and wanders the villages of the poor fishermen. God walks with the woman on her 10km trek to the well to get water. God is already tending to the sick and the suffering, the hungry and the burnt. God waits for us to come.”

There it is again. That thought. God waits. And all the while God waits for us to come…waits for us to come and help. But what can I do? How can I help?

For the briefest of moments I have the seeds of an argument forming in my brain.

If we rush out to help the poor and the marginalised without considering the consequences for the environment, then we, like Peter, are no more than Satan. If we rush out to save the environment without considering the consequences for the poor and the marginalised we, like Peter, are no more than Satan. We need to get behind Jesus and follow. We need to constantly consider the consequences of our actions and ensure we are following the Lord.

Hmmm…that could be worth working on. But heck, this is supposed to be an introduction to communion, not a rambling sermon. Dennis can ramble later, I chuckle to myself. And Paul and Art sing their final verse.

‘And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made. And the sign flashed out its warning, in the words that it was forming. And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls.” And they’re whispered in the sounds of silence.’

Hmmm…I know what I can do. Short and sweet – to the point. That’s what we need. Not some great treatise on the environment or theology or ecology, but something that says what this bread and wine are really about. I’ll just say this – that will be enough. And it fits nicely straight after the second hymn. Just let me get this down…yeah, I like it. Yeah this is good. I like it.

————

As we share together in this symbol of bread and wine, may it not be a silent witness to a distant memory. Rather may it be a noisy gong that invades the sounds of silence of our lives, driving us to recognise God everywhere and in everything and in everyone and may it lead us to come behind Jesus of Nazareth, following him where ever he leads.

————

© 2009 Steve Mellor

Lyrics of Sounds of Silence © Paul Simon


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