ASPIRATIONS

Two inches taller
Two sizes smaller
Brown eyes , not blue
And sallow skin too
Hair on my head
And not on my bed
A voice so sweet
And Pele's feet
An artist's hand
And a prince's land
A single mood
A desire to be good
Einstein's brain
The Beatles' fame
A private jet
Not a single debt

I may wish and want
But what I need
He has supplied
And more indeed
And if I was some other man
I couldn't doThe job he's planned

HOME

Home is a two storey terrace
A mansion on an estate
A township in Soweto
A palace in Kuwait
A clearing in the Amazon jungle
A shanty in Hong Kong
A tent on a reservation
A high rise in New York
A space in cardboard city
A yacht in the south of France
A villa in Lanzarote
A rectory or a manse
A mud hut in the Andes
A barge in Amsterdam
An Australian outback sheep ranch
A converted bus or van
Home is what you make it
With friends or all alone
The places we just visit
Are someone else's home
Home is not for ever
Another passing stage
A better home is waiting

On a more eternal plane

NEIGHBOURS

Who is my neighbour ?
My mother and dad
My brothers and sisters
Or uncles and aunts
My far flung relations
At home and abroad
These are my neighbours
My kindred and blood

Who is my neighbour ?
The man down the road
The girl at the checkout
Or the guy with the Post
The reckless bad driver
The tramp in the street
These are my neighbours
The people I meet

Who is my neighbour ?
The German , the Turk
The peoples of language
And culture diverse
The loved and the hated
The well and diseased
That is my neighbour
The one who's in need

OFFERING

The choir had just begun to sing
When I was overcome with fear
The offering envelope I had brought
Had mysteriously disappeared

I hunted jacket inside out
And trouser pockets too
I even held my nose and checked
Inside my slip-on shoe

And as collector closer came
The sweat ran down my side
Imagine the indignity
Of waving him on by

I'd be the talk of all the church
And laughing stock there too
Unless some grand excuse I'd find
To rise and leave my pew

But time passed quicker than my brain
The offering plate arrived
And then the envelope appeared
Before disbelieving eyes

I turned around with some relief
She'd had it all the while
I whispered 'Thank-you' to my wife
And she gave me a knowing smile

COUNTDOWN

Twelve disciples
Eleven good
Ten lepers
Nine rude
Eight sailing in Gopher wood
Seven days
Six used
Five smooth stones from the brook
Four Gospels
Three days
Two roads
One way

READ AND PRAY

Now I lay me down to sleep
Thank You for the food we eat
These two prayers I use each day
How can you say that I don't pray
And every Sunday from the pew
The Lord's Prayer I repeat right through

For God so loved the world , I know
Is from the New and not the Old
Abram nearly killed his son
At Jericho the walls fell down
And the birth of Jesus is quite nice
I read that every Christmas time

I know you think that I'm all wrong
Your eyes are sad and your face is long
Because my prayers are only three
And the Bible's not so clear to me
But before you start to criticise
Remember that I'm only five

GOD'S NOT DEAD

God's not dead
Just badly hurt
By all the rumours going round
That say He's finished
Soon demised
It would make anybody frown

God's not dead
Just badly hurt
By all the friends He thought He had
Who all agreed
When persecuted
It was just a passing fad

God's not dead
Just badly hurt
That we should treat His son the same
When time has passed
And wounds have healed
We'll probably do the same again

God's not dead
Just badly hurt
But no victory comes without a price
I'd rather be wounded and winning
Than making the ultimate sacrifice