spirituality

Meditation – You have not done with us yet

God of darkness… as well as God of light

Wounded God… yet healing God
When we stumble on the journey and see no hope

May we take time to walk away from what distracts us,
Take time to pause and be silent.
You were not there in the earthquake nor in the wind nor in the fire

But in the sheer silence;
It is there we meet you again.
May we go to the silence to restore our equilibrium –
To gain the strength to cast our net again as we realise
You have not done with us yet…
There is still hope.

Prayer for St George’s Day 2020

St. George – The Palestinian patron saint of England

That St George was a Palestinian is often a surprise to people. So here is a prayer/meditation to use around this time to remind us of the lessons we learn from St. George.

He is known as ‘the healer’– we can be thinking of those involved in healing in our own communities and around the world in these difficult days.

This comment of the former Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir Ali is helpful. He pointed out in a letter to The Guardian some years back that “There is often a perpetuating of Edward Gibbon’s error of identifying the patron saint of England with the “grasping or violent” “George of Cappadocia” …… but the patron saint of England, is, rather, George of Lydda in Palestine. This Palestinian is known in the Eastern Church as the Great Martyr and is also the patron saint of Christians in Syria, India and other places in the East.”

So St.George is an international figure and a figure with a message and a spirituality which I hope will be reflected in this prayer.

A Prayer / meditation for St George’s Day

God, the distant memory of the martyr St George

Can still inspire and challenge us.

This saint from Palestine is still remembered across the Middle East –

As the Healer, and as “the Green One” who protects the environment –

He brings the faiths together

Because he is respected across the faiths,

So in England where he is our Patron Saint

This encourages us – especially in this time when we need healing –

To support one another,

To respect different viewpoints and faiths,

And to look after this wonderful world we have been given.

It reminds us to love humanity and love our world.

God, let the witness of a martyr

Who stands for the values of your community,

Against the powerful empire of domination,

Remind us of the journey we must take –

A journey showing compassion, mercy and justice to all

So that our world might be healed in these difficult times And brought back from the ways of violence

To the ways of wholeness.

May any ideas of excluding the other be removed

From our minds and lives,

As we realise that in you, giving God,

There is no scarcity of blessing.

We do not have to try and own you or define you –

You have already defined us

By making us in your image

And by showing us the example of your vulnerable love.

A song and a prayer for Easter

Song for Easter

Jesus of the Scars

If we have never sought, we seek you now;

Your eyes burn through the dark our only stars;

We must have sight of thorn-marks on your brow,

We must have you, O Jesus of the scars.

The heavens frighten us, they are too calm;

In all the universe we have no place

Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?

Lord Jesus, by your scars we know your grace

O Jesus of the scars we seek you now

We must have sight of the thorn-marks on your brow

We must have you, O Jesus of the scars

The other gods were strong but you were weak;

They rode, but you did stumble to a throne;

But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,

And not a god has wounds but you alone.

music by Garth Hewitt

poem by Edward Shillito, written at the end of the First World War

Prayer for Easter 2020

O God, whether in India, Greece or Bethlehem

Or anywhere else in our global village

Lead us through the wilderness of worry, despair,

Illness, sorrow and suffering

And lead our wounded world to the resurrection of hope.

May we all learn from this world wide virus

That we are all in this together.

So no more violence and war,

No more greed and selfishness –

It is time to support one another

And genuinely love our neighbour as ourself.

To the God whose name is Mercy

Sadly some of Garth’s concerts are postponed because of the COVID-19 virus. We hope it won’t be too long before it’s possible to reschedule concerts and we look forward to that.

Please watch this page for updates on Garth’s concerts and events.

Please click here for updates on Garth’s concerts and events

A song for today

From the album My Name Is Palestine

Chorus Inspired by words of Pope Francis

Verses influenced by words of US Trappist Monk Thomas Merton

To The God Whose Name Is Mercy

Chorus:

To the God whose name is mercy

To the generous God of mercy

We take our stand with you

So tell the earth to shake with marching feet

Of messengers of peace –

Proclaim my way of love

To every nation and every race –

Show mercy and show love

Chorus

Let old ways be over – no more hate

There shall be no more war

My people shall be one

To every nation and every race –

Show mercy and show love

Chorus

We take our stand with you

Reach out our hand to you

www.gingerdog.co.uk

Making Holy Dreams Come True

What have they done to the “Little Town”?

Imprisoned it in a concrete wall

Bethlehem – once a holy city

Trapped inside a ghetto wall.

Here where angels sang of peace

Where love and hope were born anew

Once surrounded by a heavenly host

Now surrounded by a concrete view.

Yet people crushed and hidden away

Still celebrate on Christmas Eve

Lighting candles for the child –

They still remember – still believe.

So light a candle this Holy Night

For Bethlehem and Beit Sahour

And for all the people caught inside

That cold and grey prison wall

Longing for a world of peace

Where all are treated equally

Where all can recognise their worth

Where all can live with dignity –

Where all can join hands with neighbours

Whether Muslim, Christian or Jew

And find a way to live together

Making Holy dreams

Making Holy dreams come true.

A song for Palm Sunday

As he introduces this song performed at a concert on Palm Sunday 2018, Garth explains how an ancient Palm Sunday event inspired the song

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