Passing The Harp

Recenttly members of The Community of Aidan and Hilda had a Passing the Harp evening on zoom.  This is a modern alternative to the occasion described by the monk Bede when people gathered round a log fire in a barn on the estate of the Whitby monastery and each sang or recited something; The illiterate cowhered Caedmon slid out because he was too embrassed to contribute but as a result of a dream Saint Hilda detected he had a great gift for poems and songs - and he became 'the father of English poetry' and the first Bible pop singer!

Well, at our zoom Passing the Harp some read poems, others played music, or told a story or sang songs.  I was entranced as a sister sang The Lord's Prayer in arabic.

My contribution was to read a poem sent to me by Therese Luteke of the Democratic Republic of Congo. She lives in difficult circumstances and has pioneered medical work for single mothers.  Here it is:

 A unique and unchangeable face

 Don't depart from me Lord,

You are the root of human life,

Without you I am nothing, I am lost.

 What is my life?

Why do you take pleasure in it?

Why do you remember me?

 I ask myself so many questions

But I know that man is nothing without you.

When I consider it I know that you provide

 I labour, I suffer, and the more I cry

I know that life is full of gladness

Your blessings, I hope for, tender Father.

 I hold on, I hold on, and still I hold on,

O you  are the face of love,

Your friends saw and they believed.

 You, have the face of patience,

Face of holiness and of justice,

Your friends saw and they believed.

 Face of pity and of tenderness,

Face of humour and of happiness,

Your friends saw and they believed.

 Face of goodness and of rejoicing,

Face of joy and of sadness,

Your friends saw and they believed.

 Face of anger and of anxiety,

Unique face beyond compare.

Your friends saw and they believed.

 Your face, face of Divinity.