Tag Archives: music

An Ancient Celtic Blessing

“May the Road Rise Up To Meet You” is a beautiful old Celtic blessing. Blessings are a gift and ancient ones like these help us to become open channels for the fragrance of Christ to surround those we give out to. I love the references to creation – the sun, the wind, the rain – that these elements are in God’s hands:-

“May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

A blessing is not a whimsical “I wish, I hope for” etc. It is more powerful than this because the faith of the one who blesses connects with God the Father, Jesus the Saviour and the Holy Spirit the comforter. Just as negative words can damage and corrupt us, there is power in a blessing to change lives. Words spoken in faith have an ability to change the emotional climate, to prepare the ground ahead, and to watch over our rest and our dreams. We hope that this song and film can become a gift that you can give to someone who needs a blessing from God. And we trust that if you are in a hard place yourself that you can receive this as a gift from us. As you watch this film we pray that you might deeply know that you are in the most secure place on earth – in the palm of your Father God, and that your heart may be able to rest in this life changing knowledge.

When we truly grasp the power of blessings we can indulge in blessing others wherever we go. We can speak out love, hope and faith over those who are enchained and see the transformational equation of Christ’s legacy in action. There is indeed power in the name of Jesus. Thanks be to God.

This track is taken from our new prayerscapes album “Dwell”, available by clicking here. It’s also possible to download the film for a small fee by following this link.

The Nicene Creed

In August of this year, our church asked us if we might create a film recording of the Nicene Creed (this creed is an ancient declaration of the Christian faith dating back to A.D.325 and the early church communities).

We decided to record many different voices because we wanted to build a diverse picture of what it means to be part of church family – the young and old together, from many backgrounds and upbringings, all united in their love and adoration of Christ. So, on this recording you will hear Scottish, Irish, English and even Afro-French accents! In the western world we value highly our individualism with “I” and “my” being some of our most frequently used words. Christ knew that it was “we” – the church – that would become a beautiful family of relationships – his bride and treasure on earth. He knew that if we continued to view the world and understand ourselves with an “I” outlook, that we would fall to confusion or comparison. “We believe” is then a transforming creed, “we” are whole within the body, we are valued within the body and “we” are sheltered within the body.

We hope that the imagery we have woven into this film will help others who are on a journey of faith to distil, contemplate and rest in these ancient statements. We are “one” in belief, connected to our brothers and sisters of faith through many generations in Christ. “We” can play our part – not with fear, comparison or insecurity, but with confidence. “We” belong – accepted, loved, forgiven and free. “We” can rest when we are tired, question when we doubt, and be carried when we can no longer stand because we share in the love and the legacy of others who have gone before us.

This film can be purchased and downloaded for a small fee by visiting this page.

Here are the words to this glorious declaration of Christian faith:-

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

A new film for Pentecost

Come, O Spirit of God,
Cause blind eyes to see.
In this day, awaken our land.
Come, O Spirit of power,
Breathe life through your church.
Come O Lord, bring Heaven to Earth,
Bring Heaven to Earth.

This is our prayer for Pentecost Sunday – the day we remember how the Holy Spirit came on the first disciples with great power. The word “power” (Acts 1:8) in the Greek is “dunamis” from where we derive the English word “dynamite”. So “you will receive dynamite when the Holy Spirit comes on you” is a more accurate way of understanding what Jesus was wanting to convey to his disciples!

It’s possible to download this film in HD by following this link.

The refrain of “Come O Spirit of God” is a heart cry to the Lord, that His Holy Spirit would move through the church with great power and awaken hearts and lives to him. The verses outwork this move of the God into the neighbourhood, taking as their base Isaiah 61 – words which Jesus presented as his manifesto at the beginning of his public ministry.

Sometimes as a songwriter, very occasionally, something seems to come from nowhere. It’s almost as if you’ve been wandering through a forest and uncovered a treasure that has been lying there hidden for centuries. “Come O Spirit of God” was one of those rare moments in my life. The main refrain, chords and melody came to me very quickly. Of course, like any song, it needed crafting. And that’s when I gave Malc Garda, a good friend of mine a ring and invited him round to see what he made of it. Malc had the great idea of developing the verses into a practical outworking of what this heart cry means.

Little were we to know that within a year thousands would be singing it at major Christians festivals up and down the land, and it would end up on several CD’s and song books. If you’d like to try this song with your congregation, here are the links to the chords/words sheet, onsong file & melody line score.

“Come O Spirit of God” is taken from our new album (entitled “Dwell” – out next month!) – a collection of prayer songs and creative readings that we’ve been crafting over the last few years. Some of these tracks are already backing tracks to videos on this site (such as “Prayer Connects” & “May the road rise up to meet you“) – whilst others are brand new for the album. However, it’s possible to download “Come O Spirit of God” as a single from iTunes or Amazon now.

Prayer for Easter

Love overcame,
Emerging from a cold tomb.
All the truth, majesty and creativity of a living God,
Transforming a broken heart.
Making a quiet return, in a still and sorrowful garden.
The grave stone rolled away, to release redemptive love.
Jesus resurrected and restored.
Comforts a weeping woman.
Speaks with travellers on a journey.
Meets with his faithful friends,
And they bow down before Christ alive,
And acknowledged that the saviour has arrived,
That the word of God has come alive,
And that the extraordinary transformation of heaven and earth
Is complete

This is the second poem of a triptych I have written. The first one “Love Came“, is about the birth of Christ. “Love Overcame” is about the death and resurrection of Christ, and the third (which I am currently working on, entitled “Freedom Reigns”) is about Pentecost.

I like the imagery of three – three cords in a marriage, the three persons of the Trinity. So I was drawn to the idea of there being three distinctive ways in which God’s love is revealed to us:-

Love born in the human form of Jesus.
Love overcoming the fall in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Love being set free, given into the hearts of men and women in the coming of the Holy Spirit.

These are all extraordinary events that have changed the course of history forever. And they are all as dramatic as they are unexpected. These are moments that inspire us and propel us forwards:-

To follow in the footsteps of Christ.
To live in grace and redemptive love.
To carry a piece of this revelation to those who are around us.

This Easter time, join with me in celebrating this wonderful love, as we pray together:-

Father, thank you that your son has stepped into history, and redeemed us. Thank you that you are with us right now by the power of your Holy Spirit. May all people taste and see this unending goodness. Amen.

Here is the film we have created based on “Love Overcame”:-

It’s possible to download and keep this film in HD for a small fee by following this link.

Song for Eden

Over the last few months, prayerscapes have been working with Sally Cranham, a UK based singer/songwriter, to create a song about the work of Eden Ministry. The mission of Eden is to rescue sexually exploited men and women in Asia and provide for them a safe and dignified environment to live and work. You can buy this song from itunes now – all the proceeds go to the work of Eden!

Here Sally writes about her experience of “Eden” and how the song came about:-

In 2014 I travelled to Asia for the first time. When I arrived there, I was surprised by the intense level of human souls that filled the air. The population is far greater than anywhere I had been before, and nestled in the vast city was a garden. Not a real garden but still, a garden, where people were creating beautiful jewellery and young women were finding rest, healing and new life.

Eden Ministry works to reach, rescue and restore those caught in the red light districts of Asia. They provide holistic programs and courses which enable both men and women to support themselves into a new and brighter future. Many of the young women have been trafficked and the work of Eden Ministry provides a safe place to process their stories.

The young women and teams working with Eden Ministry create beautiful pieces of jewellery that are sold all over the world to support the work. The women are given new skills, not only in the making of the pieces but also in the design process too.

I was privileged to visit one of the Eden offices and was able to teach and share about the creative story of God and how He makes us all uniquely and endlessly creative. We dove into the text of Genesis 1 with joy and I shared songs of that garden space like “Eternity” and “Sapphire Blue“. At the end of our time one young girl spoke (in Chinese) a song she had written about her time at Eden. There was a translation of the song into English and I was able to sing an improvised melody in the moment as a perfect conclusion and prayer to our individual God breathed creativity. Two worlds collided in that room, a garden in the middle of a booming city and it was really a sweet holy moment.

Two years later, here I am, writing a blog about the space of time between that room and this moment. For the time it takes for little things you might see in the moment to come into fruition, one must be patient in what can be seen as full of potential. After working with a couple of friends who run Prayerscapes, we are now able to release a full track inspired by the moment in that room in Asia. At the time I recorded the spoken song in Chinese and the melody that I sang. Now we have a song ready to share with the world, highlighting the work of Eden and the awareness we can raise of modern day slavery. All proceeds raised from sales of this single will go directly to Eden Ministry. You can download the track now here from itunes.

For more information about Eden ministry please visit www.edenministry.org. If you would like to book me to come and share about the work, the song and even run a creative workshop for your community please contact me at sally@feathersandwhirlwinds.com.

With love,

Sally Cranham

www.sallycranham.com

Our Father

We all experience the brokenness of humanity. My heart goes out to all those of you who find yourself in that place today. Illness, sorrow, fear, loneliness, hopelessness, confusion, hurt and fatigue are all real and immensely hard sufferings to endure. Christ knows all these feelings, and he overcame even death itself to create a path for us through the hard times. So when Jesus taught us how to pray, it is his understanding of these things that lie at the heart of that prayer, commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer.

It begins “Our Father” – two very powerful words. We are all sons and daughters, equally loved, with the same inheritance, the same status, and the same grace heaped upon us in God’s Kingdom. Jesus does not pray “My Father”! “Our Father” unites us, it forms the stable ground for love to reign and redeem and restore us individually and corporately. This heart connection, this heavenly vision, will unite us and soothe our souls.

Shortly after the 24/7 prayer movement began, we were asked by Pete Greig to create a track that captures the essence of this famous prayer. We recorded the prayer in several languages, reflecting both it’s corporate nature and echoing the growing movement of 24/7 prayer vigils springing up all across the world – a movement that today has now touched more than 2 million people in over 10,000 prayer rooms across the earth. The film was also shot in New York shortly after the 9/11 tragedy. This added a challenging ring to the line “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us”. The film reminds us that God is ever present with us – we can reach out to Him wherever we find ourselves – whether this be on the daily commute, carrying heavy shopping back from the city, or sat in solitude in the midst of crowds. Throughout, the prayer reveals itself as an offering rising up like a beautiful fragrance from the debris of a fallen world. Today, as you watch the film and pray the Lord’s Prayer, we stand with you trusting in the Holy Spirit to minister to your needs and bring God’s redeeming change into your life.

Here’s the film we created :-

It’s possible to download and keep this film for a small fee by following this link.

Disturb Us Lord

The words in the video below cry “Disturb Us Lord!”. Come disturb us – when we are too safe, too distracted, too caught-up in the now to “dream of eternity”. Yet unlike some of those early Celtic pilgrims we are unlikely to literally sail out in a coracle into the vast unknown! However, at every stage, circumstance or challenge in our lives we can choose the great adventure. We can choose to trust in God, to give him everything, and allow the Kingdom of Heaven to be poured into us.

Recently a very special man who was part of our home church, an artist and sculptor, lost his battle with Alzheimer’s. He truly encompassed the meaning behind this poem. He and his wonderful family faced “the unknown” and choose to sail with immense courage. He lost so many things in life but never lost his faith, which continued to shine brightly, even in his final days. The strength, love and compassion of his family are a living testimony to the redeeming power of Christ.

Take heart as you sail into the sea of parenting, negotiate the waves of ill health, or navigate the demands of a stressful career. Take courage as you voyage through clouds of depression, tack the shifting waves of anxiety, or confront the darkness of grief. At times such as this we are called to fix our eyes on Jesus, stay soft in heart, and carry the promise of eternity in our hearts.

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 2: 1b-2, NIV)

It’s possible to download and keep this film for a small sum by following this link.

prayer in this film:-

Disturb Us Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

(attributed to Sir Francis Drake -1577)

Love Came at Christmas

I wrote the following poem that you can see in the video below for a church nativity service. I love these moments in our lives, the ones that distill everything that we hold dear! Lights shining in the darkness, heaven filled with music, cherished moments watching our little ones and the feeling of unity and love. Somehow I wanted to speak something of clarity, something that caught the story of the birth of Jesus and made it more than a story, more than history! The transformational event we remember at Christmas time is alive with promise, pulsating with dramatic intention and overflowing with gentleness, grace and truth. Every aspect connects with the true nature of our Creator, the elements weaving and combining together with the unspoken yearnings that run deep within us, the fears and hopes we all hold and the counter-culture nature of Christ and His Kingdom. Here is Jesus, a King, born into the world as a poor and threatened refugee. Here is the author of time and space vulnerable, dependent and fragile.

And what of the ones who came to see this precious newborn? A doorkeeper with a soft heart, those that pastor and faithfully watch over their sheep, the wise-ones who dwell upon scripture, await the call of God and follow the signs. Like Mary, some who come will carry the gift of God deep within them. Like Joseph, others will faithfully obey the calling of God for their lives. And the miracle of Christmas is that love came! The true nature of love has been revealed, and we live in this amazing revelation:-

It’s possible to download and keep this film for a small sum by clicking here.

This I Know

“This I Know” is a song that came to me in a moment of confusion. I had made mistakes that had badly hurt others, and I felt very shaken. The song takes the form of a gentle lullaby, reminding us that whatever befalls us, we have a refuge, a safe place, a sanctuary we can abide in.

What I most love about the Gospel is that it is a simple “come to me” message, that we don’t need to learn, earn or win our inheritance, we simply need to receive it! For many years I have had the privilege of working closely with adults who have learning disabilities. I have received so much in this time. I have found joy and freedom in their friendship and enlightenment as I have felt Christ at work in their lives. The transformational birth, death and resurrection of Jesus doesn’t need to be studied like a scholar or dissected like a surgeon. It is like a beautiful pattern, like a glorious jigsaw puzzle. It fits all hearts, all peoples and surpasses all things generational, physical or mental. Wow!! How remarkable is the power of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? The three-in-one is like a dance we are caught up in, receiving the love and forgiveness of the Father, following the call and example of Jesus, and then allowing the Spirit of God to transform us and live deeply within us. It is my prayer that “This I Know” will lead you into that place of deep security and transformation:-

“Even when the earth is breaking, You abide.

Even if I fail, I’m shaken, there is life, life in You, hope in You”.

It’s possible to download and keep this film in HD for a small sum by clicking on this link.

Quietude – Instrumental Prayer Music

Often during prayer times I have found myself taking to the piano and playing some chords gently in the background as others pray and intercede. Music seems to have an extraordinary effect on us. It lifts our hearts, it inspires our minds, and it can also help connect us with our maker, our Father in Heaven.

I wrote “Quietude” this summer in one of those moments.

I hope that this track will create a “space” for you to pray, find inspiration, and soak in the peace of God. It’s deliberately long (at over thirty minutes) and musically stays in a “tranquil” zone. In the times when I’ve needed to contribute to a meeting (and not been free to play!) I’ve found it hard to find a piece of music that does this, and often instrumental albums may have a really useful track but then follow with a track that doesn’t work that well for prayer or ministry.

You may find that there are other uses for “Quietude”. Perhaps you know a friend who finds it difficult to settle for sleep, and some calming music is needed. Or you are leading communion and would like to bring something creative in. Or perhaps you are writing or preparing for something and just need some gentle ambience in the background.

You’ll know the track is near finishing when you hear a high falling piano theme, that repeats itself. I put this in as a cue – if you are using the music to lead a prayer or meditation time you’ll know that you have about a minute before it runs out!

Here’s the video version of the track:-

You can also download and keep it as an mp3 for a small sum by clicking here.