Friends of The Sacred Braid
and readers of THE ALMOND TREE,
the author of the Song of Songs writes:

“See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come.”

And the song of spring we sing
is that hope will supplant despair,
tears of joy will replace tears of sadness,
the waging of peace will outlast the waging of war,
the light of Christ will cast out the darkness of hate,
resurrection will get the last word with death, and
love—as it was in the beginning and ever shall be—
is the greatest power in the world.
Alleluia!
~ Dan

Easter Morning

Maybe someone comes to the door and says,
“Repent,” and you say, “Come on in,” and it’s
Jesus. That’s when all you ever did, or said,
or even thought, suddenly wakes up again and
sings out, “I’m still here,” and you know it’s true.
You just shiver alive and are left standing
there suddenly brought to account: saved.

Except, maybe that someone says, “I’ve got a deal
for you.” And you listen, because that’s how
you’re trained–they told you, “Always hear both sides.”
So then the slick voice can sell you anything, even
Hell, which is what you’re getting by listening.
Well, what should you do? I’d say always go to
the door, yes, but keep the screen locked. Then,
while you hold the Bible in one hand, lean forward
and say carefully, “Jesus?”

William Stafford

Now The Green Blade Rises

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

By John M. C. Crum (1872-1958).
First published in the Oxford Book of Carols, 1928.

Easter Song

Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing that we can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He is risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world,
He is risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah

Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing that we can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He is risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world,
He is risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

by Annie Herring

Morning Has Broken

Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world

Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God’s recreation of the new day

Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world

Producer: Paul Samwell-Smith; Composer: Traditional
Lyricist: Eleanor Farjeon; Arranger: Cat Stevens

Unclouded Day

Arranger: Shawn Kirchner; Lyricist: Josiakh K. Alwood

Joy Will Find a Way

[Verse]
Make me a bed of fond memories
Make me to lie down with a smile
Everything that rises afterward falls
But all that dies has first to live

[Chorus]
As longing becomes love
As night turns to day
Everything changes
Joy will find a way
Joy will find a way

[Instrumental]

[Chorus]
As longing becomes love
As night turns to day
Everything changes
Joy will find a way
Joy will find a way
Hey hey
Hey hey

Words and Music by: Bruce Cockburn

 

Christ Be Our Light

In deepest night, shadows are lifted
Now let your servant go forth in peace
Your Word fulfilled, your promise honored
Love that will never cease!

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts
Shine through the darkness
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today

With our own eyes, we see salvation
Within our hearts, we are set free
Your Word made flesh, hope of the nations
Light for the world to see!

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts
Shine through the darkness
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today

Christ, be our hope! Christ, be our purpose!
Christ, be our vision, radiant and bright!
Christ, be our Way, shatt’ring our blindness
Gifting us with your sight!

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts
Shine through the darkness
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts
Shine through the darkness
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today

Words and Music by Bernadette Farrell