'Sing' - the song of Jubilee

I watched a programme - On her Majesty's Service - on Sunday night - after the Jubilee Celebration about Gary Barlow's song for the Jubilee:  'SING'. And I must admit I loved it and found it inspirational.  It reminded me of One Love by Playing for Change, in that it was essentially the same concept  One song being sung by many voices all over the world. Recorded in location (on a Mac!) and remixed in a studio.  SING was composed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, but it also celebrates the Queen's proudest achievement  - the Commonwealth.  She has traveled the Nations of hte Commonwealth extensively during her 60 years

You can read a Telegraph  review about the programme

Sing - by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gary Barlow.

The video for Sing, the official song of the Diamond Jubilee. Performed by the Military Wives with Gareth Malone and musicians from across the Commonwealth including the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Band, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Slum Drummers from Kenya's Kibera slum, African Children's Choir and many more.

Recorded at Abbey Road studios and also on location in Australia, Kenya, Jamaica and the Solomon Islands, find out the full list of performers here: http://www.jubileesing.com/performers

Some words they can't be spoken only sung
So hear a thousand voices shouting love

There's a place, there's a time
In this life when you sing what you are feeling
Find your feet, stand your ground
Don't you see
Right now the world is listening to what we say

Sing it louder, sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear you,
Make some noise, find your voice tonight
Sing it stronger, sing together
Make this moment last forever
Old and young
Shouting love tonight

To sing we've had a lifetime to wait
And see a thousand faces celebrate

You brought hope, you brought light
Conquered fear, it wasn't always easy
Stood your ground, kept your faith
Don't you see
Right now the world is listening to what we say

Sing it louder, sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear you,
Make some noise, find your voice tonight
Sing it stronger, sing together
Make this moment last forever
Old and young
Shouting love tonight

Some words they can't be spoken only sung
To hear a thousand voices shouting love
And light and hope

© copyright 2012 The Really Useful Group Ltd. & Sony / ATV Music Publishing (UK) Ltd.

The 'Go Forth' People

Ascension Day was on 17th May this year, so today, 20th was the Sunday after Ascension. It is the time when we remember, 40 days after the resurrection, when Jesus ascends to the Father. Often it is overlooked and eclipsed in evengelical circles by Pentecost.....

But it the occasion of the Great Commission given to the Disciples '.....as you go, preach the gospel......'  (Matthew 28), which must be one of the most important, foundational texts for a mission society, like CMS.

The Church Mission Society used to be based in Partnership House in 157 Waterloo Road, London before the relocation to Oxford. The local Post Office used to call it 'Go Forth' House,  because of the verse from Mark (16:15) emblazoned across the front of the building:

‘GO FORTH To EVERY PART of THE WORLD and PROCLAIM the GOOD NEWS to the WHOLE CREATION’

Unfortunately since we moved out,  the place has been boarded up and sits empty. And the message now seems to suggest the sad demise of Western Mission.

My former colleague, Patrick Goh the previous CMS Personnel Director has put together a sequence of pictures of what he has called 'Go Forth' people. They are people we know well from years of working together.  A great bunch. Many have moved on to other things, beyond CMS.  





(according to my Shazam APP, the music is 'What Grace is Mine', by Keith and Kristyn Getty)


Mission is not dead; it is still very much alive, Not as an institution, but as a movement of people of mission....   a Community of Mission Service. 

ARADHNA -Mukhteshwar 'Blessed are the Merciful'

I love the hautingly beautiful music of ARADHNA, having seen them at Greenbelt a few years ago (in the CMS Tent). They were TCKs from Woodstock and have learnt classical Indian Music, which they serve up as a belnded fusion of East & West, proving Rudyard Kipling wrong yet again. ....  Here the two SHALL meet.....
This Music Video is from their new DVD 'Sau Guna'

Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercyThose who are poor in this worldBlessed are they, blessed are theyFor the kingdom of heaven is theirsBlessed are they, blessed are theyThey who mourn in this world, will have peaceThe meek in this world, will ruleBlessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercyThose whose hearts are pure in this world will see GodThose who make peace will be called the children of God - Sri Yeshu Ji

Mukteshwar is the first of six short films from Aradhna's DVD Sau Guna.

Buy Sau Guna here:
aradhnamusic.storenvy.com

For full lyric translations go tohttp://aradhnamusic.com/discography/namaste-sate/lyrics-namaste-sate/

Prayer for the Fallen

I came across this beautiful piece of music

Nick Ashman - A Prayer For The Fallen

As well as dedicating the music to his grandfather, he writes:

I've put together this video to commemorate Remembrance Day as a lasting memorial for all the other brave men and women that gave up their normal lives to fight for freedom in both the first and second world wars. We live in their shadow, but somehow that shadow bring light not darkness!
The piece uses the poem 'For The Fallen' by Laurence Binyon, read by Tom O'Bedlam who you can also find on youtube and big thanks go to him for letting me use his voice! 

For me too it captures the spirit of remembrance  - respectful silence for sacrifices made. For me it brought to mind my own family history searches, particularly the visit to Flanders to see the trenches of WW1, where 2 of my Great Uncles fell.  I commend this to you over this Remembrace weekend with the 2 minutes of silance at 11o'clock  on 11/11/11 and the services around memorials across the country this Remebrance Sunday 

You can read more of Nick Ashman's reflections on his Blog post Those who gave us Freedom

 

Bert Jansch - Legendary Folk Guitarist

Bert Jansch died this morning, at the age of 67, following a two-year battle with cancer ( a friend Graham notified me by email and sent me the links below). He was a great guitarist and below are some of his all time greats. You probably have your own favourites ....

The Wheel

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Reflection

and a fabulous YouTube clip of Angie

I particulalry loved his album 'Avocet' 

There is his obituary in the Guardian

and an old clip of him performing 'Black Waterside' 

    

Yeshu Satsang Toronto

an excellent example of multi-cultural worship from Yeshu Satsung Toronto, recommended by one of the participants at the recent Fresh Expressions and Pioneering conference.   Similar to Pal Singh's Sanctuary in Birmingham. It also reminds me of the music of Aradhna  

Random thoughts

A bit of random fun on Facebook got me thinking .....

The message below - when I did it - produced the result above

1. Go to Wikipedia and hit random. The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2 - Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. 3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”. Third picture no matter what it is, will be your album cover. 4 - Use Photoshop or similar (picnik.com is a free online photo editor) to put it all together. 5 - Post it with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in

As someone suggested mine looks like a real album cover. The one I saw on another friends status looked even more convincing ....

A further facebook friend has pointed out 2 websites that generate random covers: album cover generator and fake album cover with both a twitter following and a facebook group.

That got me thinking - how much of what we attribute meaning to is actually random. Meaning making is retrospective. we see patterns and make connections and attribute meaning to what may be otherwise random events. And even if that is so then so what...

It reminded me of something else I read about random tourism. Go to a city / town and using a pack of cards, draw a card - Hearts go straight, Clubs left, Diamond right, Spades back. And walk the number of blocks on the card. Just follow the cards for the day and see what happens.... talk to people, visit places en route....

Maybe we need more 'random' in our lives.... not everything planned ..... more 'wandering for the love of God'......

Back to my random quote:

"Love much. Earth has enough of bitter in it."

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Auld Lang Syne sung by Dougie MacLean

I love this version of Robbie Burns poem - Auld Lang Syne As sung by Dougie MacLean on the album 'Tribute'

I add it here for all my blog readers of 2009 - little late I know but hey.... its a good song

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind ?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

For more see wikepedia

Celtic Woman: Silent Night

I can't think of a better way of wishing everyone a happy Christmas than letting Celtic Woman do it for me (I do have a thing about Celtic female vocalists)

May peace reign on this special night when we remember the coming of the Prince of Peace

And as a bonus track here is O Come all ye faithful' . .... 'Wait for me ..... I'm coming, alright, I'm coming...'

Playing for change : One Love

I have been totally inspired by a You Tube video 'Playing for Change'

Do check it out. Promoting 'peace through music'

For me it expresses something of a vision I have had for a long time from a summer school back in 2000, a dream or vision of CMS as:

‘A feast, a celebration, a multi-cultural event of ‘world music’, a rich variety, kaleidoscope, mosaic, tapestry, with colour and variety, great diversity and various harmonies. Cultural differences being apparent and exaggerated eg African drums, Irish Bodhran, Indian Tabla and Pakistani Nal/Dolak . But still a Unity : One world - a praise song expressing the ‘Love of God’ and celebrating a common humanity. An increasingly energetic drum beat (like the Millenium Song: ‘A Perfect Day’.) One song with many manifestations: With people from the margins at the centre of the song’ (‘addicts’, ‘criminals’ ‘prostitutes’,’ unemployed’, ‘disadvantaged’ as part of this great recovery movement)

That was written abck in 2000 and as you can see, 'Playing for change' really connects with that vision:

Playing for change have a new film out and suggest that people host a 'peace through music' party. Go for it !

GREENBELT 3 The Long Worship

Greenbelt is primarily a music and arts with a strong concern for social justice So it has its music and talks, art and literature, film and comedy, youth and children, but there is also a worship and spirituality track.

I started Monday morning in the CMS tent with Sanctuary, part East+West trust from Birmingham. Run by Pall Singh. Sitar playing, simple acts lighting candles, dropping stones / burdens into water, bread and wine. Indian sweet representing goodness. Prayer of St Francis. It was beautifully and meaningfully put together.

Later in the day after putting down all the tents and packing camp for the long jorney home, I was able to visit The Long Worship 'a space to reflect on how God fits into your story and how you fit into God’s story'

A spiraling labyrinth in the centre of the room. Images – an old man shovelling snow in a monastry – ambient mucis in background. Kids playing lego and colouring celtic saints. A wall of words for meaning making. Hanging fabrics, floor cushions. People sitting, kneeling, lying down, stretching, reading, writing, relaxing, meditating, thinking, reflecting. Shoes off for this is holy ground.

Thoughts are not imposed but are free to wander, and fix themselves momentarily on an idea, a connection, a point of contact with the Divine. Moments of Spirit of God

I was grateful for Mark Berry of safespace for putting it together (along I am sure with many friends) a great way of finishing Greenbelt 09

Afterwards I picked up a number of postcards advertising other alt.worship events

ReSource creating church in the emerging culture

Grace big complex worship café afterwards 2^nd Sat 8pm and gracelet small quiet service New Inn afterwards 4^th Sunday 8pm in St Mary’s Church Ealing

Reviv’in seeking God in the Grove – both a journey and an opportunity to meet with God (in Temple Bar, Birmingham) 2^nd Friday of month 9pm til late

sanctum (re;connect) and sanctum (:lite) in Horsham

op/en no bag for the journey in London

critical.mass building and celebrating - responding deeply to a desire to make connections in St Stephen’s Bristol

Transcrndence An ancient Future Mass - a multimedia Eucharist with ambient music, chant, movement and symbol run by York Minster and Vision

Dream Re-imagining Church a creative and open community for people exploring a spiritualit centred on Jesus - dream

And lots of 'inspiring resources that fuel faith' 11 books + 22 albums + 44 videos plus new content for £60pa see proost.co.uk

The old boys are leaving

I remember the Runrig song 'The Old boys are leaving'  (full lyrics here). Marking the end of an era and the passing of the 'old guard'. Harri Patch who died today aged 111 was the last survivor of WW1.  You can see his life in BBC Photo Essay  According to a BBC article 

Mr Patch was conscripted into the Army aged 18 and fought in the Battle of Passchendaele at Ypres in 1917 in which more than 70,000 British soldiers died.

He served in the Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry.

I have visited Ypres or 'Wipers' as it was coloquially known, to see where 2 of my Great Uncles are remembered in the carnage of the treches. It was a very sobering experience. ... 

Another WW1 survivor Henry Allingham  died recently (22 July) aged 113.   A survivor of the bettle of Jutland and a founding member fo the RAF. he is also rememebr in a portrait  by Dan Llywelyn Hall

The second portrait is of Harri Patch by Peter Kuhfeld.   it's a great way to remember them. 

BOTH of their stories is told in Max Arthiur's Book The Last Post: The final word from our First world war survivors  

Another book worth reading is  Forgotten Voices of the Great War by the same author. They make the WW1 conflict 'come alive' or maybe I should say made the WW1 become more 'realistically dead'.   

The old Boys
Are all leaving
Leaving one by one
Where young birds go flying
Spread your wings and run
But over the fields
By the drystone walls
An eagle will come no more

We will remember them .....

I Dreamed a Dream

I was one of the 25 million people who have watched Scottish  Susan Boyle, 47, Unemployed on YouTube as she sang on Britain’s Got talent. A heartwarming story of an 'ugly duckling turning into a beautiful Swan'. A transforming voice proceeding, from what can only be described as ordinariness.   She sang 'I dreamed a dream' from Les Miserables.  

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life, worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving. 

I even mentioned it in my sermon on Sunday morning, as an illustration of a sort of resurrection.  How hope inspires.  How seeing is believing. 

It reminded me and probably most of the other people watching (!)  of , Paul Potts, the carphone warehouse salesman from Wales who wanted to sing opera.  He has been Susan Boyles inspiration. I remember watching that video so many times -   Paul Potts sings Nessun Dorma high quality video/sound widescreen 16:   He reached some 60 million YouTube viewings, but it took him  a little longer. Now the whole process seems to speed up and fame can be so instant.  

I just hope that such showbiz 'life' does not kill the dream.  

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living,
So different now from what it seemed...
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed...

C.M.S. Christmas Mailing Service Dec 08

CHRISTMAS MUSICAL SPECTAULAR

Alexandra Burke won the X factor final singing Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah and has sparked a mini war on the internet over whose version is best. The purists (like me) prefer Jeff Buckley’s.  You can read all about it in the Times online    Actually I also really like a version by Canadian singer Allison Crowe.  There's also an article on the CMS website on Halleluyah's X Factor by Martin Wroe one of Greenbelt's Trustees and a main mover behind an online Community called Generous

Phil, based in India. posted a link on his facebook to another Music piece or should that read Music 'Peace'!   Playing For Change: Song Around the World "Stand By Me" which I thought was brill.

I have been inspired by a website wherethehellismatt  Excuse the title but watch the video: Dancing2008  It has become for me a metaphor of mission, inviting people to ‘join the dance’ and I have been showing it everywhere. Any theological reflections on a postcard please.

COMPLEXITY MADE SIMPLE

We had a CMS office party Christmas staff celebrations which went very well indeed You can look at the videos I produced as our ASIA contribution on facebook and I am trying to upload them to YouTube (inspired by the aforementioned film Dancing2008)   Anyone on facebook can see them already   Back on the Road Again  and  Will Ye Go? 

When Jonny Baker uploads his video Complexity Made Simple we will send you the link It brought the house down at our Christmas celebration. It was based on a talk that Tim Dakin did to a group of managers trying to simplify the complex. It is now part of CMS legend.

CONSTANTLY MOVING STRUCTURES 

We are anticipating more changes in the New Year. Don’t you just love change!
The Asia enquiry Process is going well so far. We have conducted around 25 structured interviews using a questionnaire. And have also had group processes in Thailand, at the faith2share  consultation in October and then in Rawlpindi and Karachi in Pakistan in November.  In February we are meeting partners in Pune India to continue the process and we are planning an event in East Asia, hopefully in the Spring.   All of this will feed into the process of Asia CMS becoming a separate entity (like CMS Africa) We will try to keep you updated.

CHALLENGING MONEY SITUATION

The global economic downturn is understandably affecting the charity sector. So we face challenges. Although I am assured that religions charities do are not as affected as others. However we are cutting back in order to face the challenge as well as increasing our fundraising targets.   But this means we are more than tightening our belts. There are some redundancies and vacant staff posts are currently frozen. There will be a strong emphasis to ensure that MPs are ‘fully resourced’ and this may mean if the situation cannot be improved for some severely underfunded MPS, we will seriously need to look at bringing people back earlier than planned. I share this not to raise anxieties but to be realistic about the challenges ahead of us in the coming year.  

     COMMUNITY of MISSION SERVICE
CMS is now acknowledged as a community within the Church of England, so let me know of you feel ontologically changed in any way!
What it is meant to mean is that we are acknowledged for who we already are, a ‘community of mission service’ - a movement of people in mission. But it will also be a way for people to focus their mission vocation and be resourced within the wider mission community. There are people working on the prayer resources encouraging a mission focused spirituality, building on the prayer resources we already have. What I have seen so far is excellent.

CELEBRATING MINISTRY SUCCESSES 

I thought that the resource that Sheilagh sent round our yahoo group, ‘Celebrating Successes in Ministry’, was a very helpful way of focusing thoughts during the change of year, a traditional time to reflect and plan and make those resolutions. Let us know if you get any profound thoughts.

That’s enough from me. May I simply pray that you will experience real peace and deep joy where ever you are, this Christmas, and may your ministry in 2009 be even more fruitful.

Phil  

wherethehellismatt Oct 2008

I have been inspired by a YouTube posting of an American, Matt Harding dancing around the world, doing his silly dance.  Originally he danced on his own in some pretty amazing places. 

His videos can be viewed on You Tube: 

Dancing 2005

Dancing 2006

But in 2008 with the support of Stride Bubble Gum,  others joined in the dance.  And cultural diversity is introduced - dancing Bollywood style and also  Dancing with the Huli Wigmen of Papua New Guinea

This has become a picture for me of mission, of faith sharing, of connecting people around the world with the 'Lord of the Dance'.   Whenever I have shown the video I've always seen people smile - it somehow has that feel good factor, registering joy   

His videos can be viewed on YouTube or on his website Wherethellismatt or in higher quality downloads they can be downloaded for free from the Stride Bubblegum's mattsplace

The one that really inspired me is Dancing2008

So why not watch it and see.  

What were your reactions as you saw the clips ? Post a comment ........