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Psalm for the 90s & 00s Lost in the wilderness The years have flown nowhere “Times are a changing” Yet nothing has occurred In ever decreasing circles we swim without reason
Ring a ring of purposes A pocket full of promises A tissue full of lies We all fall down
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The cry for change Once loud Blown away Now a whisper Can anybody hear!
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Idealism proclaimed The System smothered People transformed now conformed Rigid and brittle are our days Of cynicism
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To react or not to react But what is the act? Visions still born The anchor is gone Drifting nowhere Chaos all around
! The remnant call out in anticipation “They will listen and act Surely they see the needs, the lies, the reality?” O the weight Ever pressing down Suffocating, polluting But the truth is not crushed
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Years have flown nowhere The peril is closer But minds are too distant The wind that blows is chilling the bones The bitter harvest beckons But how many blind eyes can we turn?
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Governments serenade us Tax cuts and Futures Market forces and consumers Sound bite philosophies And microwave remedies Salvation give-aways but two get one free For these are some of our favourite things
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The world is spinning dizzily Hold on tight to sanity See the horizon is coming Dead men walking Go on take the blinkers off Turn the binoculars round the right way Take your fingers out of your ears And your fist from my mouth! For truth rises up as the whisper of God in the storm
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Generation lost, remnant found Church in a quandary Schizophrenia abounds Some building a world of social and ecological justice and peace Whilst others are mirrors asleep Proclaiming Jesus And acting as if they knew him not!
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Is it that they do not know what they do Or they do, and act as if they don’t? The answer lies buried in the sand Turning to God I wept bitterly For forgiveness and change And mercy to flow
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Upon the breath of God Snatched out of the circles that spin my mind I saw the darkness that covered the land shatter It disperse before the justice of God A river that could not be damned A ribbon of time that could not be tied See truth rises up Righteousness embraces For the times are in God’s hands Reconciling Freeing Shalom
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My faith affirmed upon Zion’s path My soul rejoices For a new and ancient rhythm is beating Upon its movement the gospel advances A wise mind dances And the heart of the chosen Follow God’s ways No longer fretting and avoiding But flying in the wind.
© Tony May (1 February 1997)