Lament & Hope

Send us Fan Mail

Voice and Words: Jon Swales
Piano Alice Brencher

A Prayer for Peace in Ukraine-

 Господи помилуй Lord have mercy (Draft)

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

The world has changed,

And so have our hearts,

As we face disappointment, 

disorientation and distress

Not knowing what will happen next.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Putin and the Masters of War

Have opened the door to the beasts of war,

And it may overwhelm us.

Who is like the beast?

Who can fight against it?

Yet our grief, anxiety and fear 

is nothing compared to that faced 

by ordinary people living in Ukraine.

So we pray for,

The brave and the scared,

The soldier and civilian,

The elderly and the newborn,

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy. 

And so we pray for,

Those who have decided to fight,

Those who have decided to flee,

Those who resist but choose not to kill.

Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy.

And so we pray for 

Those who this day will be wounded,

Those who this day will die,

Those who this day will mourn. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy

Father of Compassion,

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

We look to you,

In a world at war,

For hope, healing and help,

For grace, goodness and guidance,

For the cessation of war and the flourishing of peace.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy. 

Father of Peace,

God of Hope, 

After crucifixion,

Your Son was laid silent in the grave,

And then you spoke and he was raised to life.

Violence does not win,

It will not have the last word,

Death does not win,

It will not have the last word.

In the reconciliation of all things,

War will be no more.

In the reconciliation of all things,

All tears will be wiped away.

In the reconciliation of all things,

There will be a tree for the healing of the nations. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Hospody pomyluy,

Christ have mercy. 

Amen

Send us Fan Mail

Words and Voice: Alice Brencher
Music by Chris Sayburn 'Waiting'. Used withe Permission

Send us Fan Mail

Words and Voice: Rev'd Jon Swales
Music. Classical Sad Piano [No Copyright Sound] [FREE USE MUSIC] - Scott Buckley - Undertow (320 kbps).mp3

Father of Creation,

The Covenant God who spoke of blessing to the nations,

We weep anxious tears,

Not only for Ukraine,

But also with a forboding fear,

Of what may be.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy. 

Father of Creation,

God and Father  of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Within the storm of war,

We long to hear afresh the words of your Son, saying

‘Do not be afraid’

We long to hear the the words of your Son, saying 

 ‘Be still, The War is over,

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

And so we pray,

For Russian soldiers to lay down their swords,

For Tanks fueled by violent intent to stop in their tracks,

For missiles and bomb to fail to detonate

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

We conspire with compassion,

And hope against hope,

For the cessation of violence, &

The flourishing of peace. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

And so we pray,

For the hurt and the wounded,

The scared and the brave,

For Ukraine and Russia.

For mercy and grace.

And so we pray,

For world leaders,

Those fleeing for their lives,

Those moving at the command of the violent warmongers,

For mercy and grace. 

We conspire with compassion,

And hope against hope,

For the cessation of violence, &

The flourishing of peace. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy

And so we pray against nuclear threats,

Against the trigger of terror,

And the the barbarity of man.

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Father of Creation,

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your Son said to ‘love our enemies’

And lived and loved with self giving sacrificial love,

May we too, whatever the cost,

Be those who are blessed for making peace.

God, our refuge and strength,

bring near the day when wars shall cease and poverty and pain shall end,

that earth may know the peace of heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord

Amen

Send us Fan Mail

Words and Voice: Jon Swales
Piano: Alice Brencher.

A Prayer for Peace: Heaven’s Sabotage (Draft)

Father of Creation,

God of the Nations,

We cry out to you,

A litany of lament,

A heart song of sadness 

As we witness war &

The death and destruction it brings.

Father of Creation,

God of Hope,

We cry out to you,

With sad souls and heavy hearts

As we witness Putin and the beast of violence,

Enacting catastrophe and embracing carnage.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy. 

What have we become? 

What have we done?

As women prepare molotovs,

Children hide in basements,

As tear stained cheeks wave goodbye,

Whilst Homes and hearts and humans are hounded by an embodied evil.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

We have stood by as 

the masters of war,

Amassed armaments and armies,

Weapons of woe,

Deigned to main, kill and destroy

Lord have mercy 

Christ have mercy

And so we pray for the city Kyiv,

And plead and beg for mercy,

Draw close to those who hear things that should not be heard,

Comfort and enfold them in your love.

Draw close to those who witness things that should never be witnessed,

Comfort and enfold them in your love.

Draw close to those who face a pain that should never be faced,

Comfort and enfold them in your love

And so we pray for cessation of war and the end to all  hostility.

We plead and beg for peace. 

That  heavens sabotage would still the sound of tanks and bombs

That heavens sabotage would silence the drums of war and carnage

That heavens sabotage would confuse those with intent to take the lives of innocents

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

We conspire with compassion

To a revolution called love

In which justice is embodied

And war will be no more

God, our refuge and strength,

bring near the day when wars shall cease and poverty and pain shall end,

that earth may know the peace of heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Send us Fan Mail

A Prayer for Peace: Ukraine and the Healing of the Nations
Words: Jon Swales
Music: Used with Permission, Chris Sayburn 'Distance'

Father God,

God of Compassion,

In your kingdom there is a tree,

For the healing of the nations.

In your kingdom, 

Tears will be turned to joy,

Swords into ploughshares 

And war will be no more.

Let your kingdom come,

Your will be done.

In Ukraine as it is in heaven.

Father of Creation,

God of compassion,

The unthinkable has happened,

As tanks roll into market squares.

Threatening not only the lives of defiant Ukrainians but also the well being and future of every European citizen.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Let your kingdom come,

Your will be done.

In Ukraine as it is in heaven.

Father of Creation, 

Is heaven silent?

Are you asleep?

Do you care? 

We have asked that you step in and save and rescue,

And put an end to war. 

Yet, Our prayers remain unanswered, 

The tanks roll on and on.

Yet, our prayers remain unanswered, 

As children are both scared and scarred 

Yet, our  prayers remain unanswered,

As the death toll rises

Father of Creation,

God of compassion,

With our questions we look again to your kingdom,

And plead that heavens resources,

Would be poured out.

And beg that heavens angelic hosts

Would be deployed.

In darkness,

Let there be light,

In hopelessness ,

Let there be hope,

In a world at war,

Let there be peace . 

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Blessed are the peacemakers

Let your kingdom come

Your will be done.

In Ukraine as it is in heaven.

Father of Creation,

God and Father of out Lord Jesus Christ,

In your Son,

You have shown clearly and decisively,

That violence will not have the last word,

That love itself will win.

We ask that this hope,

Would not simply be a future dream,

But that it would break into the present,

And be tasted and enacted in the here and now,

That this war would cease. 

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

Blessed are the peacemakers

Let your kingdom come

Your will be done.

In Ukraine as it is in heaven

Father God,

God of Compassion,

In your kingdom there is a tree,

For the healing of the nations.

In your kingdom, 

Tears will be turned to joy,

And swords into ploughshares 

And war will be no more.

Amen

Send us Fan Mail

Words and Voice: Jon Swales
Music: Blue Nights by Juan Sanchez

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

We thank you for your Son, Jesus,

Who proclaimed & enacted a 

kingdom of peace.

A kingdom in which divine favour and blessing rests on those,

Who are peacemakers &

Justice seekers.

A kingdom in which divine favour and blessing rests on those,

Who renounce 

politics of power and

 violence,

And instead take the way of self giving sacrificial love.

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

The beasts of militarism and 

imperial conquest,

Are at the the gates of Europe.

And our twitter feeds and news channels are filled with images and sounds

Of brave defiance,

Tearful farewells,

Children cowering in underground shelters,

A Ukrainian  soldier in a news interview saying ‘I love you Tato and Mama’. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

War is hell,

And from the pit comes death and desolation

In which bloodshed and butchery

Strike fear into ordinary people living ordinary lives. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Blessed are the peacemakers.

And so we lift up to you the Ukrainian people ;

We pray for those who this day will die,

And those who will mourn.

We pray for those who this day will flee their homes,

And those who stay put in fearful defiance.

We pray for those with calm and courage,

And those in acute anxiety and distress

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Blessed are the peacemakers

And so we lift up to you the people of Russia;

For those who protest the misuse of power,

Grant them wisdom and courage.

For those who encourage peace,

Grant them wisdom and courage.

For those soldiers considering insubordination,

Grant them wisdom and courage. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Blessed are the Peacemakers .

And so we pray for those who collude with war;

For Putin and the warmongers,

Bring repentance and resignation.

For the Russian military-industrial complex ,

Bring confusion and administrative collapse.

For the masters of war and those who profit from conflict,

Bring about their downfall.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

We thank you for your Son, Jesus,

Who proclaimed and enacted a kingdom of peace.

A kingdom in which divine favour and blessing rests on those,

Who are peacemakers &

Justice seekers 

God, our refuge and strength,

bring near the day when wars shall cease and poverty and pain shall end,

that earth may know the peace of heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Send us Fan Mail

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

Our hearts are heavy,

Our souls are sad,

As we here the news,

Of war.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Father of Creation,

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The anxiety we feel,

Is nothing compared to that which,

People like us,

Must feel within Ukraine

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy

So we plead for peace,

In the name of him who said blessed are the peacemakers.

And so we beg for mercy,

In the name of him who said blessed are the peacemakers

We lift up to you the people of Ukraine,

For Men, Women and children

For those locked down at home,

For those fleeing in fear

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

We lift up to you the Church in Russia,

May it raise up its prophetic voice,

To proclaim ‘Lay down the Sword’

We lift up to you the Church in Russia,

May it raise up its prophetic voice,

To say ‘Take up the cross’

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

We lift up to you the church in Ukraine,

May it raise up a prophetic voice,

To comfort those who mourn.

We lift up to you the church in Ukraine,

May it look and love like Jesus,

To comfort those who mourn.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Father of Creation,

God of the Nations,

Bring down the beast of militarism which brings destruction and desolation,

Silence the warmongers who add fuel to the fires of this  conflict,

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

We pray for world leaders,

That you would give them courage and wisdom,

To enact love and embrace justice

To stand strong with peaceable hearts

Against bullies and despots

Who sanction carnage

And command conflict 

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Lord have mercy

Christ have mercy 

Father of Creation

God of Justice,

We pray for the cessation of war,

And the flourishing of peace,

Blessed are the peacemakers,

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

God, our refuge and strength,

bring near the day when wars shall cease and poverty and pain shall end,

that earth may know the peace of heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Send us Fan Mail

Words and Voice: Jon Swales
Music: Cello & Piano Music 'Blue Nights' by Juan Sanchez

Prayer 40: Ash Wednesday

Almighty God, 

The Creator of All that is,

You created us from the dust of the earth,

And breathed upon us and gave us the gift of life.

In our fragility and weakness,

We marvel at the precious gift of life,

And the calling you have placed upon us to

Tend and keep your cosmic temple.

Almighty God,

The Creator of All that is,

Dust we are and to dust we will return,

Yet you dignified us with the gift of love.

A love in which dust is taken up in your divine embrace,

A love in which the word became flesh and dust became divine. 

A love in which the fire of your presence sanctifies dust.

Almighty God,

Humanity as dust,

Has been granted the possibility and potential to reflect your glory,

But we embarked to the far country, &

Squandered our inheritance,

Lord have mercy.

In our arrogance, we erected Babel, &

Have forgotten who we truly are,

And what we are called to be.

Lord have mercy.

Yet we now reap what we have sown,

And find ourselves,

Cast Adrift as Homesick Exiles

East of Eden and lost in sin and shame.

Lord have mercy.

Almighty God,

We have misused our power and privilege,

And have plundered and pillaged,

This world of your yours,

This world of ours,

This world which we share with a host of non-human worshippers.

Lord have mercy.

And so in this context of rising temperatures,

As we face our own existential threat.

Knowing the gods of consumerism and economic systems will not save,

We remember,

We lament,

We repent

Lord have mercy.

And so in the context of rising seas,

As we face ecological ruin,

Knowing the gods of individualism and technology will not save,

We remember,

We lament,

We Repent,

Lord have mercy.

We remember your great love,

We lament our prideful arrogance,

We repent and turn to you the wellspring of love.

We receive ash upon our head as a reminder of our mortality,

Shaped as a cross.

Knowing that we are signed and sealed,

In the self-giving love of Jesus

We receive ash upon our head as a reminder of our mortality,

Shaped as a Cross,

Knowing that we are called afresh to embrace and enact,

The self-giving love of Jesus.

Almighty God,

On this day when we are reminded of our fragility,

We too are reminded of your faithfulness.

On this day when we are reminded of our mortality,

We too are reminded of your grace. 

Almighty God, 

The Creator of All that is

You created us from the dust of the earth,

And breathed upon us and gave us the gift of life.

In our fragility and weakness,

We marvel at the precious gift of life,

And the calling you have placed upon us to

Tend and Keep your cosmic temple.

Almighty God,

The Creator of All that is.

Dust we are and to dust we will return,

Yet you dignified us with the gift of love.

...

Almighty God,

Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our

 mortality and penitence, 

that we may remember in the context of climate breakdown

 that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given

 everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. 

Amen. 

Send us Fan Mail

Words and Voice: Swales
Music: 

Apocalypse: Prayers for the Climate and Ecological Emergency (Draft)

I.

Father of Creation,

To the one who sits on the throne,

The climate curtain has been drawn back,

And we see things as they really are.

An apocalypse,

An unveiling,

That reveals our existential threat.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Narratives of empire,

Announce news  of endless growth

Whilst propaganda politics

distracts, 

denies & 

deludes

As mainstream media, 

entertains &

educates,

The masses who march to the beat,

Towards the edge of the ecological abyss. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

II.

Father of Creation,

To the one who was , and is,  and will be.

At the centre stands the butchered lamb,

He is the centre of the cosmos

We take our place alongside non-human worshippers.

Singing,

Praise, Glory and Honour..

We are not the centre,

The world does not revolve around us.

We are not on the throne,

To you, and your Son,

Be all praise, glory and honour.

Violent Power is not the centre,

That place is taken by the butchered lamb.

Violent Power is not the centre,

That place is taken by self giving sacrificial love.

Father of Creation,

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

We march to the beat of a different drum.

Instead of a lust for power,

We love.

Instead of despair

We hope.

Instead of lies,

We speak truth.

We pledge allegiance to the butchered lamb,

To him be all praise, glory and honour.

III.

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

The horseman of the apocalypse

Are at the gates. 

The Alarm has gone off,

The neighbours are awake.

Lord have mercy.

Father of Creation

Famine, 

Sword &

Pestilence .

Have been welcomed in.

We reap what we have sown.

As our addiction to fossil fuels 

Sets your world

On fire

As our addiction to fossil fuels

Sets our home

On fire

We reap what we sow,

We sow what we desire,

We become what we desire.

If we sow to the wind of unrestrained capitalism,

We will reap a whirlwind.

If we sow to love

We reap a justice shaped harvest.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

IV.

Father of Creation,

God of Compassion,

Strange beasts stalk the land,

And we dare to name them,

Unrestrained Capitalism, yours days are numbered 

Consumerism, your days are numbered 

Individualism  , your days are numbered 

You offer life,

Yet you bring death.

You promise hope.

Yet you bring despair.

You offer joy,

Yet you bring grief.

Your days are numbered.

Unrestrained Capitalism, your days are numbered. 

Consumerism, your days are numbered.

Individualism  , your days are numbered.

V. 

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

You offer a 

fresh story and stir imaginations,

&

We march to the beat of a different drum.

Hope is on the horizon,

Hope is in our hearts,

Hope has a name,

And we pledge allegiance to your Son.

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

In your new creation,

Every Tear is wiped away,

Death will be no more,

There is a tree for the healing of the nations.

Hope is on the horizon

Hope is in our hearts,

Hope has a name.

And we pledge allegiance to your Son.

Swales, 2022

Send us Fan Mail

Words and Voice  -Jon Swales
Music: Chris Sayburn  'Horizon' , Used with Permission

I can’t stop climate breakdown,
 But I can play my part,
A small part,
So small,
That it is insignificant,
But I will try.

I can’t stop climate breakdown,
 But I can pray,
And act,
So small,
That it seems insignificant 
But I will try.

I can’t stop climate breakdown, But I can love,
And be loved.
So beautiful,
That my life has dignity, But I will try.

I can’t stop climate breakdown, 
But I can rage against the machine, And say,
Not in my name,
So small,
But I will try.

I can’t stop climate breakdown,
But I can hope,
And dream,
And participate,
In a conspiracy of compassion,
A holy rebellion,
Until that day when all tears are wiped away.

Swales, 2021