Although most of my hymns aim to build hope, there are times when we just need to stop and acknowledge our grief at the devastation that climate change has already brought and our fears for the future. This hymn expresses that pain but makes no attempt to resolve it. It might be used to lead into a time of contemplation with hope being built in later elements of the service.

The hymn is a paraphrase of Isaiah 24:1-6. Although written perhaps 2,700 years ago these words are chillingly appropriate for today.

Since J. S. Bach first used this tune in his St Matthew Passion, it has been associated with the anguish suffered by Jesus in the lead up to and during his crucifixion. Most congregations will recognise it as a Good Friday hymn and may make a link between Jesus’ grief for the world in which he lived and our grief for the world in which we live.

The butterfly chosen for this page is the monarch. This is a very rare vagrant to the United Kingdom which was once widespread across the United States but is now facing extinction because of climate change, indiscriminate use of weedkillers and deforestation in Mexico where it migrates to over-winter.

The world dries up and withers,
the earth is parched and dry.
The heavens join in languish,
all life prepares to die.
Tomorrow’s fate unites us,
the wealthy and the poor,
exploiter and exploited,
our world can take no more.

Our planet is polluted,
the earth, the sea the sky,
The rich have brought destruction,
and all God’s people cry.
God’s world has been diminished,
our curse devours the earth,
for we have lost all sense now,
of what our home is worth.

Can be sung to several tunes of metre 76.767D. It was written to be sung to the Passion Chorale, originally written by Hans Leo Hassler and then adapted by J.S. Bach. Try this singalong video or download the PowerPoint at this link.