The Friday Fix

  • ‘A Hazy Shade of Winter’ by Simon & Garfunkel

    Kim writes

    Methodists have long been known as being ‘born in song’ and indeed much of our theology is found within the hymns that we sing, both in our public worship and private devotions. Yet I am also aware that it is not only the songs that we find inside our tradition that can speak to us.

    As a child from the Walkman era with its radio cassettes and the TV show Top of the Pop’s I know that many profound faith statements can be discovered within what is often designated as ‘secular’ music.

    As a fan of both The Bangles (below) and Simon & Garfunkel, I have always loved the poetry contained within the song ‘A Hazy Shade of Winter.’ Despite initial appearances and the title, this song is not about the weather, the seasons or the time of year at all. Yes, records do show that Paul Simon wrote it during his time in England and it’s a fair bet that the ever-unpredictable English weather provided the beginnings of an idea for him; however, the song is about how at a point in time, our journey through life can change. The opening, and haunting refrain captivates me each time I hear it “Time, time, time, see what’s become of me”

    For some the time away from the church building, business and fellowship left us with an ache. As human beings we are designed for company and community, which is why I don’t ever recall Jesus sending the disciples out on any solo missions, and even those who walked towards Emmaus did so as a pair, keeping each other company as the discussed their sorrow, and yes we weep with those who mourn at lives lost during this time.

    For others of us the time became a space for rest, from overfilled diaries, expectations, from ‘ought’ and ‘must’. Suddenly and without much warning time took on a Sabbath element, which will come easier to some than others. Maybe you had time to read and do all the things on your to-do list?

    For others not much changed, diaries and schedules remained full. Back-to-back meetings on Zoom, Teams or whatever electronic platform was keeping track of your ‘Work from Home’ time. Indeed for some that transition time which was once spent on the commute into work (if you had one in the first place) was now spent at the computer checking emails much earlier in the day, and much later into the night. Time which was mainly defined as either at work or at home shifted for many, bringing with it a new search for a sustainable and helpful work/rest balance.

    Actually, I think it would be fair to say that we all will have, and will continue to, experience our time within an array of these roles, emotions and situations.

    It is also true that we all experience the same amount of time. The same 60 minutes of an hour, the same 24 hours of the day, the same 7 days that are in the week. As we each begin to look back on our time spent inside our homes, I wonder what it is that we see?

    Do we see that the time we took to light a candle or to clap outside our doors and in our streets has aided us in remembering those who were spending their time caring for others?

    Do we see that time when we smiled and thanked our postie or the shop checkout operator that we were, in fact, thanking all those whose role as frontline workers kept our food supplies and essential needs going?

    Do we see that by restricting our numbers in shops, not sitting in close contact in enclosed spaces, and not gathering in large groups we were demonstrating how much we loved our neighbour?

    Yet at the same time whilst the examination of time found within ‘A Hazy Shade of Winter’ is mostly reflective, it also contains the exhortation to “Hang on to your hopes, my friend…” and so here’s a thought:

    I wonder if, when the right amount of time has passed, we will look back and see that despite (or maybe because of) the times where we have struggled with silence, or hesitated to stop and be still in the times of anxiety, or if like me, have spent far too much time wrestling with the solitude, (has anyone been able to befriend isolation?) we have continued to experience those timely moments in which we recognise God’s presence with us anew? Aiding us with the recollection that, whilst we may have spent time these past months keeping socially distanced from each other, and even on our own, and may have a times even felt distanced from God, God in Jesus through the Holy Spirit has been keeping the covenant promise and has been with each one of us all this time?

    Find out more about Simon and Garfunkel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3nswy0LNsE&list=RDM3nswy0LNsE&start_radio=1&t=1

    and The Bangles at http://www.thebangles.com/

  • ‘This is the Sea’ – The Waterboys

    Kev writes:

    This is a story about a song.

    It’s a song that has been with me for almost 35 years, but my relationship with it has changed and taken on different meaning and significance over those years. But the song is, and always has been my friend.

    The song is “This is the Sea” by the Waterboys.

    I first encountered it in my student days in Leeds in the late 1980s. I saw the Waterboys live a couple of times and had their albums. The classic track “The Whole of the Moon” became the anthem for my course members – we knew the actions… (!) and it would resonate in the pubs whenever we were out together, and at subsequent reunions in the years to follow.

    But my relationship with “This is the Sea” is personal, not corporate.

    I loved the song from the first time I heard it when all it was to me was a great piece of music to listen to. It was “love at first sight” in that sense. When it took on new and deeper meanings later in life, I still maintained that baseline affection for it too. Some songs are just like that. I will never tire of listening to it (although sometimes I will choose to avoid it – see later!).

    Fast forward twenty years or so, and something very significant happened to me and my relationship with the song.

    I had been through some tough phases in my life. I’d made some big mistakes. My wife had supported me in ways I cannot even get my head around. I had been treated for depression. I ended up going to see a Christian Counsellor to help me with my troubles, who was absolutely superb.

    That short paragraph covers a long period in my life which included much joy too… but I guess that story is not really the point of this story.

    I was on my way home from a counselling session and I put my music on in the car and “This is the Sea” came on. I turned it up, let it play, and it spoke to me in a whole new way, and instantly formed part of my therapy.

    The song has a mantra: “That was the river… but this is the sea”, and in those few, repetitive words I found healing, hope, optimism for the future, and I keep on finding it whenever I’m in need. It places me at an emotional turning point and encourages me to look for the bright path forward. The session I had just left contained a visualisation of me standing with Jesus looking out into the future, a bright, expansive future and I was surrounded by his hope and reassurance, and my song put that image to music for me. What was behind me was merely the river, but ahead of me was a wide, expansive, open, vast, sea filled with endless possibilities and potential. A reassurance of a better place beckoning..

    The song is so structured that I found it talked to many of the darker phases of my life and pshcye.

    · It talks to the times when I feel “weary”… and tells me that my tiredness will lift.

    · It talks to me when I feel nostalgic for how things used to be and I have regrets… and shows me a new hopeful way.

    · It talks to me when my faith is failing and I’m losing my anchors in life… and it reinstates them.

    · It talks to me about the times when I have a “war in my head” that is “tearing me up inside”… when I feel that desperate… and it tells me things can be and will be OK…

    The thing, however, with all of the above times and phases of life is when we’re struggling, we’re struggling. When it’s dark, we sometimes have to just be in the dark for a while, and looking to the light hurts too much. Sometimes, therefore, I simply cannot take listening to the song. Sometimes I have to sit tight and feel bad for a while, and the song is at those times just too optimistic for me to take. But somehow I always know it’s there. Somehow I can always tap into the hope that it (and all the thoughts and emotions associated with it) holds for me.

    It’s my friend, and I know it’s always there for me.

    As the song settles reassuringly into its last verse, it talks of the “train” that’s “coming on down the line”. There’s an obvious ‘Gospelly’ feel to this… we “don’t need no ticket… we don’t pay no fee”. This always reminds me of the priceless close family connections, the church connections, the work and friendship connections… all those vital connections I have… where I will find my hope and future can be found… it reminds me we’re all on a journey and are all there to support each other… but vitally to be supported when its’s our turn…. We’re all invited onto the train to journey together… to move forward, leaving the river behind us, and venturing on towards the vast sea that awaits.

    Awesome stuff.

    Thank you Mike Scott, because that was the river… and this is the sea.

    These things you keep; you’d better throw them away

    You wanna turn your back on your soulless days

    Once you were tethered; and now you are free

    Once you were tethered; well now you are free

    That was the river. This is the sea!

    Now if you’re feelin’ weary. If you’ve been alone too long.

    Maybe you’ve been suffering from a few too many

    Plans that have gone wrong

    And you’re trying to remember how fine your life used to be

    Running around banging your drum like it’s 1973 (nostalgia)

    Well that was the river. This is the sea!

    Wooo!

    Now you say you’ve got trouble; you say you’ve got pain

    You say’ve got nothing left to believe in

    Nothing to hold on to; nothing to trust; nothing but chains

    You’re scouring your conscience; raking through your memories

    Scouring your conscience; raking through your memories

    But that was the river. This is the sea, yeah!

    Now I can see you wavering as you try to decide

    You’ve got a war in your head and it’s tearing you up inside

    You’re trying to make sense of something that you just can’t see

    Trying to make sense now and you know you once held the key

    But that was the river. And this is the sea!

    Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!

    Now I hear there’s a train; it’s coming on down the line

    It’s yours if you hurry; you’ve got still enough time

    And you don’t need no ticket and you don’t pay no fee

    No you don’t need no ticket;You don’t pay no fee

    Because that was the river and this is the sea!

    Behold the sea!

    Find out more about Mike Scott and The Waterboys at https://mikescottwaterboys.com/

  • ‘What a Wonderful World’ – Louis Armstrong

    Jill writes:

    I can’t listen to this song without feeling better! I know it’s slushy but it speaks of reality to me. Although the world can be really, really crappy, there are, always, experiences that remind me of its wonder-full-ness too.

    I used to wonder if it was only when you live in a ‘plush’ area that you feel so positive about the world but when we’ve lived in ‘tougher’ bits of London, Rotherham and Leicester, I’ve still noticed “trees of green” and “skies of blue and clouds of white” and watched as children have grown. The idea of friends ‘shaking hands’ currently seems a bit remote (!) but the colours of the rainbow have taken on extra significance recently.

    The phrase ‘dark sacred night’ is one that has stuck with me too. I don’t feel afraid in the dark and I think that the darkness and the light are both the same to God in their intensity, sacredness and wholesomeness… I think of the phrase when I’m awake at night sometimes. 

    Somehow the song reminds me of all that is good, and the simplicity of valuing it. It feels as though the music reflects that simple goodness. 2 minutes or so of musical perfection!

    I didn’t know the Louis Armstrong original until I came across the Alison Moyet version through Comic Relief one year, but, personally, I love both of their different versions equally!

    It’s fascinating to know that although, to me, this song speaks simply of simple things, the complexity of race relations in the USA at the time Louis Armstrong first sang it meant that it was received with conflicting views about it and Armstrong was accused of ‘disney-fying’ African-American experience. There’s a great explanation of this in the BBC soul-music series, here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00dvtpn

    Whatever people made of Armstong’s original singing of it, the song has continued to speak to people across many cultures.

    It’s worth listening to Louis Armstrong’s comments  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nGKqH26xlg – especially when we have seen the glimpse of ‘hope’ that we’ve given to the environment during lockdown: “See what a wonderful world it would be, if only we gave it a chance… If lots more of us loved each other we’d solve lots more problems”

    Find out more about Louis Armstrong at https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/

  • ‘Three Little Birds’ – Bob Marley and The Wailers

    Gill writes:

    I can’t quite pinpoint the moment in time when I became aware of Bob Marley’s music but by the time that I was at Sixth Form College, a day wouldn’t go by without hearing one of his songs. For me, this song never ages and neither does the message – which I love.

    I am, by nature, an optimist. Always trying to look for the silver lining. Trusting that things will work themselves well in the end. That’s not to say that I don’t worry (my family will vouch for that!) but the energy that worrying takes up could be used more constructively elsewhere. Or you could turn your worry into action for change.

    Whilst I have the tendency to believe that ‘all will be well’ (thank you Julian of Norwich), I’ve spent the last six and a half years working with our brilliant Co-ordinator, Jane, who has a different perspective to me on Julian’s reflections. We’ve had a good bit of chat and banter time and again around the subject – and I’ve loved her for it because I think her perspective is shaped by her need to care and make sure that everyone is okay. All might be well but it needs input and action – so Jane will always try her hardest to make everything alright for others.

    So I’ve chosen this song especially with Jane in mind. Today is her last day before she moves to her new role and although she knows that we’re a capable bunch, there’s probably a teeny tiny bit of worry too so ‘this is my message to you’:

    Don’t worry about a thing
    ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright
    Singing’ don’t worry about a thing
    ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright

    And if there’s still a bit of railing against this message, perhaps we could think about what both the Three Little Birds have to say and what the One who we follow has to say in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6:

    25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

    So thank you Jane from the three little birds (and a bit) in East Central team. We’re going to miss you a lot but we know that every little thing is going to be alright…

    Bob Marley still lives on through his work and music – find out more at https://www.bobmarley.com/

  • ‘March March’ – The Chicks

    Lynne writes:

    I don’t think I can put into words just how much I love and adore The Chicks (formerly known as The Dixie Chicks until a very recent name change in response to the Black Lives Matter movement). I have done ever since they first hit the country music big time in the late nineties (when I was just about to turn 20) with their album Wide Open Spaces. As someone who was raised on country music – my parents relationship is pretty much founded on a shared love of the genre – discovering The Chicks was like growing up and finding my own voice (and, funnily enough, that’s pretty much what the title track from Wide Open Spaces is about).

    I could wax lyrical about how much I admire the band’s politics, courage, resilience and second-to-none fiddle playing, and I could pontificate endlessly about many of The Chicks’ songs. But the one I have chosen to write about today is the very recent release, ‘March March’. If you haven’t heard it yet then you’re in for a treat – especially if your first introduction to the song is through watching the equally powerful video that supports it. It’s a song all about the individual’s power to make a difference in a difficult world. Lead singer, Natalie Maines sings in the chorus:

    March, march to my own drum

    Hey, hey I’m an army of one

    The Chicks know something about persevering with what you believe is right, even in the face of great adversity. In 2003, while introducing their song ‘Travelin’ Soldier’ at a concert in London, Natalie Maines said that the band did not support the upcoming invasion of Iraq and that they were “ashamed” that President George W. Bush came from Texas.

    Many American country music fans were supporters of both Bush and the war and so there was a huge backlash against the band – including being blacklisted from many major radio stations and even death threats. The brilliant documentary ‘Shut Up and Sing’ follows the band over the three years following the statement made in London if you want to know more. And if you want to get a feel for their (what I believe is righteous) anger over the whole thing, then the song ‘Not Ready to Make Nice’ will give you a very definite sense of that!

    But, back to ‘March March’. Why, out of all the many brilliant lyrical offerings from The Chicks, did I choose to write about this one? This song is an anthem that celebrates, most of all, the power of youth. It lifts up young activists who are putting older generations to shame, particularly with demands for gun control and environmental action.

    Standing with Emma and our sons and daughters

    Watchin’ our youth have to solve our problems

    I’ll follow them so who’s comin’ with me?

    “Emma” in this verse is Emma Gonzales, survivor of a high school shooting and one of the young leaders in the protest movement against gun violence in the US. The video that I’ve already mentioned also features images of other young activists, such as Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai and nameless other young people protesting peacefully as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

    I love my job. I have the amazing privilege of being part of the Methodist Children, Youth and Family Team and, in particular, developing work that helps to inspire and equip children and young people as agents of change. The belief that our young people can show us the way and help us to grow the Kingdom of God on Earth is what gets me out of bed in the morning. As a team we have spent a lot of time in the past few months reflecting on the story of Samuel and Eli (1 Samuel 3) and we really believe that God is working in and through the children and young people we seek to serve.

    We want to encourage children and young people to share their prophetic voice with the wider Church but, just as with the message that Samuel was given for Eli, the things God has given our younger prophets to say may not be easy for the older generations to hear. Greta Thunberg has been mocked and dismissed by the adults she has tried to speak to. Malala Yousafzai was shot for her efforts in championing female education. As Paul says in Galatians 4:16, these young people run the risk of becoming the enemy by telling the truth, and yet they persevere – and that’s why young people give me hope. As the quote at the start of the video for March March says, “If you’re voice held no power, they wouldn’t try to silence you.”

    Find out more about The Chicks at thechicks.com

  • ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It for You’ – Bryan Adams

     

    Claire writes:

    I first heard this song at the cinema in the film ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ in 1991 when the film was released.   The song by Bryan Adams spent 16 weeks at Number 1 in the UK singles Chart.

    I visited the cinema with some friends from school who were in the year above to watch the film; I really liked a lad who was in the group. Of course he wasn’t interested in me!  I played this song over and over again imagining that one day this lad would “Look into my eyes”  and “Everything I do I do it for you” as the song says.  I wanted him to be my “Robin Hood”.  It was never to be. At 15/16 years old it was hard to take that I liked him but he wasn’t interested.

    A couple of years later, I was at an MAYC weekend in London. This was a Christian gathering where thousands of young people all dressed in yellow and green, came together to worship and show their love of God.  As a young Christian it always amazed me how many young people would be at the MAYC weekends – so many that they could fill the Royal Albert Hall twice.   My mum made me some yellow and green dungarees especially for my many trips to MAYC weekends.

    This particular year we were in the Sunday morning worship. I was always totally blown away by the worship as I usually ended up in tears of joy and happiness that we were all gathered as one worshipping God.

    The music started to play and on the big screen was a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross. I soon realised that the music playing was ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’.

    It was in that instant that this song took on a completely different meaning to me.

    This song could have been written about how Jesus died on the cross. Similar to my journey of faith, I have had to search and find where God is in my life, and the sense of peace I find on my journey with God as I travel through my life with him by my side.

    “and when you find me there, you’ll search no more”

    We all enjoy a good love story, and Jesus’ is probably the greatest love story ever told.  John 15:13   “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends”  This is where it all made sense for me, this is where my faith started, a man called Jesus died for me. 

    The words of the song are so inspiring and resonate in me, telling of the great love that Jesus has for us and that I am “worth dyin for”. The song talks of sacrifice and how we need to give it our all to follow Jesus, I have certainly found that following Jesus can be a rocky road at times.

    Ok. So maybe Bryan Adams didn’t have God on his mind when he wrote these beautiful lyrics but for me this song has been a ‘go to’ song for me as a reminder of Jesus’s great sacrifice and love for us. It has it all ! 

    In John 3:16 “For God so Loved the World, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life “

    A son; Jesus who fought for the poor, the oppressed, those who were seen as lepers, for prostitutes, refugees. The list goes on for those who Jesus loved and fought for.

    Let’s go out with this song in our heart and as the lyrics say. 

    “There’s no love
    Like your love
    And no other
    Could give more love .There’s nowhere. Unless you’re there All the time
    All the way, yeah”

    Look into my eyes
    You will see
    What you mean to me
    Search your heart
    Search your soul
    And when you find me there
    You’ll search no more

    Don’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
    You can’t tell me it’s not worth dyin’ for
    You know it’s true
    Everything I do
    I do it for you

    Look into your heart
    You will find
    There’s nothin’ there to hide
    Take me as I am
    Take my life
    I would give it all
    I would sacrifice

    Don’t tell me it’s not worth fightin’ for
    I can’t help it, there’s nothin’ I want more
    You know it’s true
    Everything I do
    I do it for you

    There’s no love
    Like your love
    And no other
    Could give more love
    There’s nowhere
    Unless you’re there
    All the time
    All the way, yeah

    Look into your heart, baby

    Oh you can’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
    I can’t help it, there’s nothin’ I want…

    Bryan Adams is still going strong – here’s his website https://www.bryanadams.com/

  • Take A Chance On Me’ – Abba

    Nigel writes:

    In thinking about this post, I have been reflecting on two major challenges. The first is that normally it is the Friday Fix song that inspires our thinking, but in this case, I started with the thought and then my mind went to the song. It is sort of the wrong way around.

    The second – and a much more troubling challenge for one raised on the adolescent delights likes of the Sex Pistols, Sham 69, Buzzcocks and Joy Division – is that the song in question is an Abba song!

    In response to my first dilemma, I’m told this is ok as the ‘Friday Fix’ is flexible in approach. I’m also told that liking Abba is now cool. Whilst I’ll reserve judgement on this second point, I willingly concede that ‘Dancing Queen’ is one of the all-time great songs of its type.

    However, I digress – I’m not talking ‘Dancing Queen’ but ‘Take A Chance On Me’ … and I’m not delving into the lyrics, more about the idea of taking a chance – particularly taking a chance on, and with, God.

    My question is this: is exposing ourselves – deliberately – to chance, especially when we don’t know what to do or where to go – the best chance we have of allowing God to meet us in the ambiguity of our uncertainty? I say this in the belief that when we have no idea where it is we are supposed to be going – or how we are going to get there – that it is better to set off on the adventure and allow the voyage to determine what outcome subsequently results.

    In Mark 5:21-34, we read of a woman who reached out to touch Jesus’ cloak in the hope she would be healed. If you read the story, you discover that she had run out of other options and just decided to take a chance on Jesus. Given her circumstance, she decided that was her best chance.

    Similarly, in Luke 19:1-10, we read about Zacchaeus who took a chance and climbed a tree because he wanted to see Jesus. Maybe his life of taking advantage of others had caught up with him or maybe he was just nosey, but he took a chance and got an eternal reward.

    If you are anything like me – to borrow a few lines from the song – maybe you have times when you want to ‘change your mind’. Perhaps you have seasons when you ‘you’ve got no place to go, [and are] feeling down’. If so, my advice is to take a chance on God and see what happens.

    In both the above stories, Jesus meets those who ran to Him. Both characters took a chance and Jesus met them with compassion, healing and restoration. Neither the woman, nor Zacchaeus, took an unfettered, unassessed, reckless risk, but rather a voyage into the unknown in the hope of finding something better in the deep waters of God’s love.

    In Acts 1: 23-26, we read about the disciples who literally ‘took a chance’. They prayed about a decision that needed to be made, gave it over to God, and then cast dice or lots to decide the outcome. They had faith that taking a holy and righteous chance was their best chance of getting the decision right. I wonder how our world, lives and churches might be if we embraced such faith and took similar chances; a chance on God?

    My first Friday Fix was a Joy Division song – Joy Division to Abba is a big leap but our souls are so often shaped by an eclectic collection of songs and symphonies.

    If you sense you might need to reach out and touch God; or go climbing in search of goodness and grace; or are facing a tricky decision then perhaps you might like to take a chance – it could be your best chance.

    May the God of second, third and many more chances meet you if you do take a chance; and may grace abound in the ambiguity of our various uncertainties.

    Find out what Abba are up to these days at https://abbasite.com/

  • Caring and Sharing

    These devotions might be a good way to start a meeting or training session with Pastoral Workers. You could also use it to help people think about offering hospitality.

    What you will need:

    Set Up the Space

    • You will need to set up a table in a place where the group can see and access it. Drape with tablecloth. Place the teapot/kettle on the table. Place the plate of biscuits on the table. Set the two mugs on the coasters. Put the pens and slips of paper on the table.

    Reading: Matthew 25: 34-36 (from The Message version)

    34-36 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

    I was hungry and you fed me,
    I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
    I was homeless and you gave me a room,
    I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
    I was sick and you stopped to visit,
    I was in prison and you came to me.’

    Reflection – Use the Friday Fix of Lucy Spraggan (with Scouting for Girls) https://thefridayfix.home.blog/2019/08/02/stick-the-kettle-on-by-lucy-spraggan-featuring-scouting-for-girls/

    Activity – Spend a moment or two calling to mind the people who you visit as a pastoral visitor – or about those people who you care for in a pastoral way.

    When you are ready – take a pen and as many slips of paper that you need. Write their names on the slips of paper and fold it once (or maybe twice). Place the slips into the mugs on the table and as you do so, pray about the care that you give to them and recognise that you can be the face of God to them.

    We all need our own nourishment too so as you leave the table, ask for God to continue feeding your spiritual life (and take a biscuit if you like)

    Closing Prayer

    Generous God

    Fill our hearts with love for those we offer care to.

    Help us understand what it means to love others as we love ourselves.

    Show us the ways in which we can strengthen those who are sick.

    Fill us with generosity so that we can feed the hungry, clothe the naked and offer water to the thirsty.

    Help us bring peace to those who are weak and lonely and weary.

    May we remember to listen, to smile, to pray as each opportunity of caring pastorally presents itself.

    Be with us as we share God’s love and care for and with others.

    Amen.

  • Come on – you know you want to…

    We know you’ve got a song that you really want to share – and we’d love to share it for you.

    Is it a song from a moment in a film?

    Is it a song that sums up a key moment in your life?

    Is it a song that’s always in your playlist?

    Is it a song that speaks to you about love?

    Is it a song that expresses your faith and spirituality?

    We know lots of you follow this blog and we’d love to share songs from a wider range of people. We really would like to share one of your songs and why it ‘speaks to you’.

    So stop worrying that others won’t like what you share; take a deep breath and dive into writing it for us. (If you’re worried about grammar, spelling and so on – don’t be because we have top class editing if needed!).

    Please send your song and story to Gill at thomasg@methodistchurch.org.uk.