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Strange Weapons

The original version of Strange Weapons, which includes the verse about the demonstration in South Africa with Desmond Tutu, and then goes to the story of Good Friday and Easter Sunday

In the sadness of the news from Myanmar the solitary witness of a nun in prayer was a very powerful moment. Seeing this action from Sister Ann (18 Feb 2021) reminded me of something I was trying to say in the song ‘Strange Weapons’. The first verse of Strange Weapons was about a demonstration in Cape Town during apartheid days. The procession as led by faith community leaders including Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Strangely I had been adding a verse to this song on the power of prayer and the first part of this verse very much reflect the example of Sister Ann.

Prayer is an act of defiance
Won’t accept the way things are
Prayer is an act of protest
Won’t accept the way things are Read more…

Garth’s farewell to Amos Christmas concert

17th December 2020 – Garth’s farewell to Amos Christmas concert

you can view it on Vimeo here

Garth’s online events in December, and why Dave Bilbrough says Garth is like a stick of rock

December 6th, 7pm GMT – Garth Hewitt, Troubadour for Justice, concert and conversation
Commemoration of UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Presented from Fort Worth, Indiana, by Indiana Center for Middle East Peace – a full concert with Garth in conversation and song

December 6th – December Fest, presented by Zephaniah Trust

Starting at 2pm, this event will be streamed on YouTube

Garth’s contribution will be two or three songs during the last hour of the festival, between 7.30 and 8.30pm

December 7th – Amos Trust’s Bethlehem Big Give Christmas event

with special guest and host Sami Awad from Bethlehem – free event but registration required so follow this link for that

December 10th, 7pm – Come And See Bethlehem This Christmas – Virtual Tour of Bethlehem – presented by United Stockport Circuit on Zoom – Garth will be speaking and singing
Entry £5, proceeds go to the justice and peace initiatives of Alternative Tours Group, Palestine
for details contact:

December 17th, 7pm – presented by Amos Trust – Against the Grain, Garth Hewitt’s Christmas Retirement Concert
A full concert with Garth singing some favourites including seasonal songs, interspersed with anecdotes from Garth and tributes from around the world. Follow this link to register for the free event.

What Amos Trust is saying about this concert –
Part celebration of Garth Hewitt’s 35 years with Amos Trust, part online Christmas concert — Garth founded Amos Trust in 1985, to tell the unheard stories of the inspirational people he had met as he performed around the world and to raise awareness of their work and the issues they were responding to. Since that point, the vision and the songs have been interwoven within Amos.
Garth stepped back from a full-time role in 2012 and for the last 8 years as founder has sung, and played, written and recorded and provided wisdom and guidance. Please join us, and some special guests from around the world, as we celebrate his journey with Amos and those who have accompanied him on it here in the UK.
Please join us as we say a very very fond farewell from Amos to our founder and friend.

December 19th, 4pm – Sabeel-Kairos Advent Service 2020!
An online Advent service featuring a live address by Revd Naim Ateek (Founder of Sabeel Jerusalem and leading Palestinian Liberation theologian) and a time of Christmas-themed songs and prayer with Garth.
Click the link in the title to register for this free Zoom event.

“Garth, you are like a stick of rock,” says Dave Bilbrough

in his interview with Garth,

which you can listen to here

Dave and Garth discuss widely,

from the journey to find direction in life

and some of Garth’s early experiences,

the world of a troubadour or storyteller,

to prophecy, the Hebrew prophets and Jesus,

the challenging Christian community, the power of a song –

and what it means to be made in the image of God.

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

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.

Let Nothing Disturb You

Garth tells the background to the song:

“‘Let Nothing Disturb You’ was inspired by some words of Teresa of Avila, also known as St Teresa of Jesus (1515 – 1582). She was a Prioress and Carmelite nun, a central figure in a movement of spiritual and monastic renewal.

And she wrote these words as a poem, translated here:

All things are passing

God alone never changes

Patience gains all things

If you have God

You will want for nothing

God alone suffices

These words were taken by musicians at Taizé and turned into a short four line song – suitable for times of worship, and the song is repeated again and again. Taizé music is beautiful and very suitable for Lent. I heard the Taizé song from friend and guitarist Dave Perry who played it to a group of us one evening – Dave was the guitarist on my new album My Name Is Palestine, which includes this song.

I liked this chorus, and thought that for a song on an album it needed a bit more progression so I wrote three other verses and then a chorus section. The words are picking up on the original theme of Teresa and also Taizé, where again the song is normally sung in Spanish so I end the song with the Spanish words “Nada te turbé”. Read more…