Tenth Anniversary of the Boxing Day Tsunami

Memorial service in Khao Lak, Thailand

Today is the 10th anniversary of the tsunami that struck southeast Asia on Boxing Day 2004.  Belinda and Pastor Charles were living in Cornwall at the time and knew the author of the hymn shown below from Pastor Charles' work with the Methodist Church circuit in Bodmin-Padstow-Wadebridge.  

Read more about the tenth anniversary from: the BBC; The Telegraph; www.tsunami2004.net

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Rev. Gareth Hill

"BBC Radio Solent Remembering the Asian tsunami 10 years ago today. Here is the hymn I wrote just days later to commemorate the event. You sing it to the tune Aurelia (The Church's One Foundation)."

When innocence is fractured
by nature’s shifting force,
and paradise is ruptured
as life is swept off course,
we come to pray our questions,
we come to share our grief;
in this, our act of worship,
to say that we believe.

As headlines overwhelm us
and make us close our minds;
as news from distant islands
brings death before our eyes
we seek a hope to cling to,
a refuge to embrace;
lest in the grip of knowing
we lose our hold on grace.

How dare we speak of heaven
made human for our sakes,
or preach a loving Father
when seas and mountains quake?
We dare because our story
speaks of a love that came
to bear the cost of dying
and still would do the same.

In Christ our souls take refuge,
though not to hide from truth:
we face each anguished question
with faith, if not with proof.
We hear his wistful question:
“And will you leave me too?”
Though all the world should crumble,
We hope, O Christ, in you.

Recommended tune: Aurelia

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