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NEW KILPATRICK PARISH CHURCH
open hearts, open minds, open faith
there is a place somewhere
deep in the corners of our world
where this season
has been preparing
from a time before we can remember
quietly moving in us through the ages
with the sound of hope
it is found in a hint of an ancient voice
calling us into something new
a prophetic whisper
formed by a truth
now ready to be born
between us
in that space that is the shape of a relationship
that holds the sound of our coming together
that knows the touch of what we can create between us
the space where hope is born
somewhere
deep in the corners of our world
this season shifts once more
and takes for itself a name
an advent name
born through struggle and hope
honed by waiting and scarred by fear
a name that is only a whisper as yet
emmanuel
Solstice
Starlight scatters sparkle across the frost
and the midnight blue
feels hollow against the cold
the air is heavy with the weight
and stillness
of waiting
There is a rumour among the trees
whose branches are frozen by the night
that the light will come
that this deepness of dark
will rise
as the season turns
and all that has breath
holds it
for that promised moment
and the waiting is deep
deep enough to hear in the distance
a gathering of words
coming from ancient times
and full of restless hope
that carry the light
and slowly the night shifts
and the darkness hesitates
with the singing of angels
frost shimmers
with a gust of light
as keen as a child’s cry
for somewhere in the east
the darkness is broken
by a rumour:
the light is on its way
Prayer
In such a darkness as this
at solstice
In such a place as this
in advent
In such a moment at this
at manger-side
may we finish with the words
the descriptions
the definitions
the explanations
and let you be
be the turning of the light that shrinks the solstice shadows
be the presence that makes every place holy
be the moment in every moment that means something
may we know it
in our hearts,
and feel it
in our souls,
and touch it
in our communities,
beyond words
yet a word
made flesh
a word
incarnated
a word
that breathes with life
with love
with us
So be it
Amen
Solstice & Carols
Emmanuel
Voice1:
The name Emmanuel
is a tough name
spoken by those
with bloodied hands
who have struggled and hoped escape from bondage
Voice 2:
a name for struggle
against a world that oppresses
and proclaims as fake
the news of hope
for the least among us
Voice 1:
a name for revolution
that curses the darkness empire uses
to hide their corruption of freedom
Voice 2:
a name for anger
that is heavens own
against the silence of the powerful
whose power
has come off the backs of the powerless
Voice 1:
a name for disruption
of the heady routines
of the rich and well-fed
in favour of the hungry and poor
and sits with them
in their worn-out clothes
Voice 2:
a name for challenge
for the doctrine makers
who would rather Jesus
was meek and mild
and placed in a manageable box
Voice 1:
a name for tension
in the hearts of the kings of the world
the everyday Herods
whose way is fear
and method is control
Voice 2:
Emmanuel is a name
that has been honed by the poor
dented and bruised by the world
scarred and scratched by rewriters of history
yet it is God’s name
and it means justice
and it means hope
it means: God is on the side of the least,
the least among us.
Mary
What do you do after news like that?
My head was full of questions
and my heart… my heart was full of song.
It just burst out of me
all these hopes I never knew I had been carrying
buried in me
generation after generation
given to me by my ancestors
passed on by them
burying them deeper
enough that we had forgotten what they were
but the angel’s words
called them
drew them to the surface
and how did we not know
that God’s good news
would be a song
a rich lyric of freedom
that magnifies your soul
and rejoices in God
my saviour
how did we not know
that God would sing in us
of freedom
of mercy flowing into each generation
of the poor lifted up
and the rich sent away empty handed
It wasn’t a shout
it wasn’t a cry
it was a song
and I will sing it
with all of my soul
to my child
new breath and vulnerable to the world
but born to enflesh this promise
And I will sing God’s ancient word
first breathed at creation
a lullaby
his flesh will stretch into
waiting yet
but soon lying in my arms
and my soul magnifies
praises
joins the holy song
of God