Candlelight Vigil Service for victims of knife crime

Danny O'Brien of Anti-Knife UK has said that he was "so pleased with the turnout" at last night's Candlelight Vigil for victims of knife crime which was hosted at St John's Seven Kings. He says, we "had about 60 people attended and a few technical issues, but I think everyone who came was pleased they came and all my speakers were first class and Camara Jessica Fearon made me cry with her singing and the dancer at the end was amazing too. Thank you if you attended ..." He goes on to say that he would "like to thank everyone who attend or sent messages of support. A big thank you to all those who took part and especially Jonathan Evens who believed in what I was trying to do and offered me his church for the vigil."

I am quoted in the Ilford Recorder as saying that, “the congregation was very grateful for the event.” They took part in an act of remembrance, lighting a candle next to a photo display of knife crime victims. “They were very moved by the occasion, the prayers and reflection" and "were fired up by the speakers too.” Mike Smith, of Word 4 Weapons, an organisation which launched this country’s first weapon exchange programme spoke alongside Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), and Danny O’Brien.

I said that, “We put on the service because we recognised a need people have when they are grieving to remember loved ones and to do that in a public way too with prayer and reflection in the run up to Christmas.” I'm also quoted as saying that we won't be repeating the service next year. That's partly because I will have moved on from St John's by that time and, therefore, can't make commitments on behalf of the church but is also because Danny would like to take the format of this service to other locations rather than simply repeating it annually in Seven Kings.

A contemporary dance act, “expressing the emotions of those affected by knife crime”, rounded off the service in a powerful and moving manner.

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Ooberfuse - Different Drum.

Award for Anti-Knife UK

Danny O'Brien, who runs Anti-Knife UK, has won an award from the Chris Donovan Trust.  Click here to read the story in the Ilford Recorder.

Danny is involved in organising a Candle-light Vigil for victims of knife crime to be hosted by St John's Seven Kings on Wednesday 3rd december from 7.00pm to 9.00pm. Among those speaking at the service will be Mike Smith, the founder of Word 4 Weapons.

This week's Ilford Recorder has great coverage of community initiatives in Redbridge including: a Vigil for Magdalena Welna; the opening of the Redbridge Cold Weather Centre; a day in the life of Ilford's Salvation Army lieutenants; Shoebox presents collected by St Peter's Aldborough Hatch; the Sophia Hub Enterprise Club; and the East London Three Faiths Forum Tour of the Holy Land. Click here to read these stories.

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The Mighty Clouds of Joy - I've Been In The Storm Too Long.

The CCM Praise Songs we have trouble with Meme

I was tagged for this meme by Sam who, unusually, seems to have bottled it. The rules are: Please try to name ONE (I know, there are so many to choose from) CCM praise song that you find unbearable and at least 2-3 reasons why, pointing to specific lyrics if you must.

I'm going for a song choice that will no doubt be controversial as it is the song that fans of Delirious? chose to send to No. 4 in the singles chart last year as part of the band's swansong. Martin Smith can write a great lyric - Deeper is evidence of that - but History Maker is far from being among his best:

Is it true today that when people pray

Cloudless skies will break
Kings and queens will shake
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

Is it true today that when people pray
We'll see dead men rise
And the blind set free
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

I'm gonna be a history maker in this land
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind
I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run
Into your arms, into your arms again
Into your arms, into your arms again

Well it's true today that when people stand
With the fire of God, and the truth in hand
We'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing
We'll see broken hearts making history
Yes it's true and I believe it
We're living for you

History Maker, it seems to me, is a classic example of hyperbole. It is full of those things that we think we ought to want to see as Christians - the dead rising, miracles, angels singing - but generally don't actually experience literally (although we love hearing stories of these things happening to others) and which, because we fixate on supernatural experience, then lead us to overlook or dismiss the miracle of life itself and the hard graft of compassion in the here and now.

History actually demonstrates that those who make a stand are as likely to be crushed as they are to see miracles and angels singing but this song doesn't deal in those kinds of paradoxes or realities and only inhabits an optimistic triumphalism. The comparison with Deeper is instructive as that lyric does deal in contrasts. Deeper contains the same yearning for God as History Maker but with a greater sense of reliance on God for any kind of achievement. History Maker is full of I's. In other words its focus is on me - what I'm gonna do, what I'm gonna be, what I'm gonna achieve - and it's attempt at reliance on God (running into the arms of God) is ambiguous at best and disconnected from the rest of the lyric at worst.

More than this though, much of the song makes little or no sense. How does a cloudless sky break or a broken heart make history? The blind set free conflates recovery of sight for the blind and set the oppressed free (Luke 4. 18) in a phrase that is either meaningless or offensive. I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run - well, which is it to be? Ultimately, these are emotive phrases with little or no substance to them.

If you are reading this, you're tagged. 
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Delirious? - Deeper.