by Carol Dixon
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
Words: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Music: Percy Fletcher
The Healing Power of Music
This wonderful poem by Lord Tennyson is a great way to welcome in the new year, particularly after a year like last year! I first remember learning the poem as a song with our Girls’ Grammar school choir. We were taking part in the annual Schools’ choir competition in our area and this was one of our set pieces that we had to learn and be judged on. We didn’t win but I will never forget the finale when all the choirs sang it together in Newcastle City Hall on the stage that had been occupied by the Beatles the week before – enough to set teenage girls’ hearts fluttering anyway. At the end, were amazed as the lights went up on the auditorium to see the entire audience, including our proud parents, rising to their feet, clapping and cheering in a way that no-one did in England in those sedate days of the early 1960s. It was such an uplifting experience for everyone that we all travelled home in a golden glow of sheer joy at the wonderful power of music.
Many years later, I was to discover the healing power of music personally in my own life after many months of debilitating illness when I was laid aside from all my usual activities and had to give up all my church commitments, including leading & singing with our church folk group. Yet in this exile from normality, I ‘learned to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land’ when God gave me the gift of hymn writing. Listening to music stood me in good stead a couple of years ago too, in long nights while waiting months for a hip replacement. I listened to healing music on my handheld tablet and took these beautiful tunes with me into the operation which was done under local anaesthetic and listened to the uplifting songs as the sawing, hammering and grinding went on to remove my old diseased hip and replace it with a new plastic and metal one which works and is free from pain. One of my favourites was Aileen Gilchrist’s ‘I see Jesus’.
One of the reasons I love Tennyson’s poem is that for me it seems to take on a new life when set to music and the marriage of words and harmony seems to underline the message of hope and new life not only at the early part of a new year but for any new start. Hopefully this year will bring a new beginning for us as more vaccines become available to combat Covid and free us from the restrictions of the pandemic so we will be able to embrace loved ones again and rejoice together for the freshness each day brings, remembering with thankfulness the sacrifice of those who have worked so tirelessly to care for us and the light of God’s richest blessings in the dark days we leave behind.
In times of sorrow and joy, I find music a great comfort to me and one of the hymns God gave me as I recovered from my bout of illness I often pray in my morning devotions. I hope you enjoy singing it.
Every new morning God gives us freely
Hears that are thankful, strength for the task,
People who love us, joy in our service,
All we have need of if we but ask.
God will be with us in all our thinking,
in all our speaking, in all we do;
and as we praise him by all our actions,
God will be with us, seeing us through.
God in the morning, God in the noontide,
God in the evening, throughout the day;
God is within us, and all around us,
behind, before us all of the way. © Carol Dixon
photo by Carol Dixon
poem and photo by Talitha Fraser,
This came out of sitting in front of a computer too long… the lines between home and work are so indistinct when they are the same place, the same room. Take breaks, reconnect with your body, breath, Creation and the Creator…
Did you miss the other post from earlier today? Check out Wounded Healer by Sheila Hamil.
by Sheila Hamil (Welcome new Godspace Community member!),
Is every day becoming ‘Groundhog Day’ for you? By that I refer to the film of that name, where a grumpy TV presenter wakes up each morning and discovers to his dismay, that it is the very same day each day, in every aspect, but he does have the capability to work changes within it. Is this is how you’re feeling with the world at the moment? Are you disillusioned? Are you are feeling dull and drained? Are you are ill or exhausted? Are you in need of a healing of body, mind or spirit?
We all possess the capability to change how the day pans out. There’s an answer in this passage from scripture, from the book of Isaiah 40:31, where it says:
Those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Why not give this a try, it can’t hurt can it? Wait upon the Lord? What does this mean?
Try this for ten minutes each morning. Clear your mind and simply listen. Imagine you’re on the phone, and it is God on the line. Open with the words: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” And do just that, just be quiet. Just be!
Ten minutes; that’s all it takes (or you might want to take longer). This is waiting upon the Lord.
You may want to write down any thought that comes to your mind. You may be guided to some book, even a passage of scripture; it may be that someone in need springs to mind; or a song or whispered words. God is real, personal and he’s accessible. Is ten minutes too much to ask? It may just change your day, your life, your purpose, your plans.
This is a story once told, I believe, by the Cure D’ars:
Each and every day an elderly man would enter church to say his prayers. He would sit at the back quietly for ten minutes or so, and then go out. The priest smiled to see one of his flock so devoted to a life of prayer, for he would see the man’s lips moving as he sat quite still. One day, as the man left church, they spoke together, and the priest asked the man what kind of prayers he prayed. The man replied that he said the same simple prayer every day, which was, “Hello God, this is Jim!” Some years later that same man died, and the priest had a very strange dream about him. The man was entering heaven, where he met the most beautiful angel, who introduced him to the One who sat on the throne, saying to him, “Hello Jim, this is God!”. Ten minutes a day well spent!
Song: This was written for a friend in trouble, and I just didn’t know how to help her or how to convince her how much she was loved by God. ©1992 Sheila Hamil
Taken from the “Lockdown Legacy” series on Sheila Hamil’s YouTube channel.
by Christine Sine
Yesterday, I received an email from one of my favourite seed catalogues talking about gardening trends that inspire happiness, good health and tranquility. They talked about vegetables that boost our immune systems and flowers with happy faces that give us joy, and calming gardens full of flowers in soothing colors and the gentle sounds of swaying grasses. I heartily endorse all of these types of healing gardens, but as many of you know, my favourites are the contemplative gardens and in the last few years, I have become quite passionate about the power of such small gardens to heal, to sooth and to bring peace.
Last year, you may remember, I created a beach combing garden, that was both a powerful meditative focus as well as an opportunity for me to grieve lost opportunities over the summer. My most recent garden has come out of our present theme Time to Heal. And it has provided time for me to heal – healing in the creating, and in the contemplating.
Creating this garden began with prayerfully reading both my Litany for Healing and my previous Meditation Monday Does God Want to Heal Us?. My process was a little like Lectio Divina as I gathered the words and ideas that shimmered in my mind and allowed them to unfold in my imagination. So I decided I needed elements of preventative, curative and relational healing in my garden.
Aloe plant in contemplative garden
I started with an aloe plant and a piece of bark – the aloe plant used to soothe sunburn and heal wounds, possibly relieving heartburn as well; the bark reminding me that aspirin comes from the bark of the willow tree – both of them powerful examples of the powerful elements of healing God has placed in our world. Then I added a mask – so simple yet so effective in preventing the spread of disease. My next addition was my stethoscope – a symbol of the healing that comes to us through doctors and other health professionals, and a cross – the most powerful symbol of healing in the gospels. Then I added a cup and a small teapot , appropriately socially distanced of course – powerful symbols for me of the healing power of relationships and our willingness to sit (over a cup of tea of course) and listen to those who think very differently than we do. My final addition was 2 rocks – one with healing on it and the other with loved reminding me that the elements of healing that are present in our world are all symbols of God’s love and desire to heal.
details of Time to Heal Garden
The garden sits on my desk. Each morning I light my circle of candles around my space and end by lighting a candle in the garden as I pray for those who have died of COVID and of violence in this last year. So the whole garden becomes a contemplative focus for both joy and grief, delight in the God who brings healing and grief for the pain that is still present in our world.
Perhaps you are not a passionate gardener like I am, but I encourage you to create a similar focus for your own daily contemplation that flows out of something you are passionate about. Tangible symbols like this don’t just help us to focus, they help us to connect to our own grief and to the love of God which is so incredibly woven into our world.
I so appreciate these beautiful contemplative services from St Andrews Episcopal Church in Seattle. Here is the contemplative service with music in the style-of-Taize for Epiphany 3 with Carrie Grace Littauer as prayer leader, and music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers. Enjoy
by Diane Woodrow, photo credit: visitwales.com
On 25th January many people in Wales will be celebrating Saint Dwynwen’s Day. This is the time for marriage proposals and, at least pre-covid, of romantic meals out. From little independent card makers to big supermarkets, St Dwynwen cards are being sold. She is the Welsh equivalent of St Valentine. But why?
The little that is known about Dwynwen is that in the 5th century she was betrothed to a prince called Maelon, but he tried to seduce her before they were married. She cried out to God to be released from loving Maelon, which was granted, and Maelon was turned to a block of ice. Dwynwen then prayed that Maelon would be restored, she would be allowed to live a chaste life and that God would allow her to intercede on behalf of other lovers. God granted all three things. But there has been a chapel to commemorate her on the tidal island of Llanddwyn, Anglesey since around the 11th century. In the fourteenth century a renowned poet wrote asking her to help him in love situation. By the fifteenth century so many crippled and love sick people came and left offerings for Dwynwen to intercede for them that Richard Kyffin, the rector at that time, was able to build himself a fine home and live like a noble man.
Of course with Reformation, the veneration of saints was curtailed but people found other ways and by Victorian times, 14th February and St Valentine was becoming known as the time for lovers. It was in the 1960s with the rise of the fight to preserve the Welsh language and Welsh traditions that Vera Williams decided to revived St Dwynwen.
The character in the story of Dwynwen had some awesome qualities that need to be remembered. Firstly, she would not marry a man who tried to manipulate or abuse her, even though he was prince. She knew he needed higher standards than just taking what he wanted when he wanted it. Are we willing to have clear boundaries and hold on to them within our relationships? And are we willing to not try to take things just because we want them?
Secondly, she had the grace to forgive her abuser and release him from being frozen. I wonder if “as a block of ice” is a metaphor for being cold or hard hearted? Dwynwen prayed that he would be free to no longer be cold or hard of heart I believe. Are we willing to let go of those who’ve hurt us? Especially if we could just leave them as they are?
Thirdly, it was not just that she wanted to then lead a chaste life but that she was willing to help and heal others who had been hurt by love, by relationships. It was not that she wanted everyone to be single like herself, but that she wanted them to be free to truly love with no hinderances.
It is interesting, too, that crippled people came to her shrine. I wonder how often we are crippled by relationships so much so that our daily walk is hindered? How often do relationships bring us to a point where we are not free to hold ourselves up right and to walk freely? I do wonder if there is a connection between hurt and abuse in relationships and being crippled bodily. We do have to remember that our minds, hearts and bodies are interlinked not separate parts. Perhaps those who came to Dwynwen’s chapel understood this and after they had made their offering and received prayer they were healed and able to walk tall and be all they were meant to be – as Dwynwen was.
Our theme at Godspacelight for the beginning of this new year is healing. This month, I have offered us different gifts to open as we move into the New Year as a way of processing last year before we move too quickly into 2021. For many of us, turning the calendar page didn’t change much, it didn’t allow for the excitement most Januarys bring. Here in the States, we’ve had a rocky start with skyrocketing covid numbers, 400,000 deaths due to the pandemic, and a major attack on democracy. Thankfully, a new President was inaugurated this week. I know not everyone was happy about that, but for me, it ended four years without a plan, without empathy, and four years with a leader who lacked compassion. I realized just how depressed I have been due to all the chaos and conflict.
The night before the inauguration, we were invited to remember the 400,000 friends, family and neighbors who have died this year due to Covid-19. The Washington Mall was filled with flags and lights and music helped us reflect and remember.
We cannot heal if we don’t take time to process our sorrow and all the grief we have felt this past year. Today, I invite you to open the gift of grief.
The Gift of Grief.
Most of us need to stop and grieve the losses of 2020 and now 2021, too.
Loss of friends and family
Loss due to death
Loss due to lack of travel
Loss due to lock down and pandemic safety measures
Loss of rhythms and traditions and ways we’ve loved before
Loss of rhythms of work and school
Loss of jobs themselves
Loss of innocence when it comes to how we see ourselves
How we see our country
How we see even the church
We no longer can hide our eyes
We now understand the brokenness around us.
We have the invitation to remember
We have an invitation to pause in these days ahead… some of us in lock down again
Some of us trying way too hard to be normal…
It doesn’t really work for me to be normal this year.
There is a glaze of sadness… covering the day to day.
I’m choosing to open the gift of grief even though it’s painful. Even though I hate crying and I’m not good at grieving.
Jesus says that we will be blessed as we mourn.
Jesus knows all the sadness and all the pain we are feeling today and all the grief and trauma we’ve experienced in recent months.
Today I choose to open the gift.
One way I have opened the gift of grief and started to heal is through art. I have prayed through my sketching with crayons and with paint.
HEART collage 2020
We all need to acknowledge the heartbreak we are feeling right now so we can let Love heal us.
What do you need to pour out to God?
Draw the Outline of a Heart
What’s in your heart today?
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