Written by Margaret Gillard from Holy Cross Parish Church, Hillfarrance, Somerset:
Other Churches, you may remember,
Celebrate Harvest in October or September;
But this is Hillfarrance branch, C of E,
And we sometimes do things differently.
We offer with our first-fruits this creation rap
(We’re musically challenged and our singing’s – not brilliant)
We believe in God, the Maker
Of Heaven, the sun and moon and the shaker
Of stars like pepper across the skies;
Who formed – dry land and the water that lies
Around it, filled with fishes, and the bird that wings
Through the air above it, and all growing things;
Fruit trees and flowers, according to plan,
And then, to tend them he created Man.
Think about it; imagine in your heart;
Picture the scene at the very start.
Out of chaos the watery birth
In an empty Heaven of a lifeless Earth,
But the Spirit soared while the torrents roared
And God said, ‘Let there be light’
And there was light!
The very first day and night met above the flood,
And God said, ‘Yes! ……That’s good!’
Day Two; God said, ‘It’s not finished yet.
With all that water it’s a bit too wet.
Over the seas and lifted high
We’ll make a dome of air and we’ll call it ‘Sky’.
’There was a second day and a second night
And God said, ‘Yes! ……..That’s right.’
‘Still too damp,’ said God on day Three
And he made dry land rise up out of the sea
Green plants growing to the glory of God
With leaf and scented flower and seed and pod
The third day passed and the third night fell
And God said, ‘Yes! ..... All’s well!
On Day Four, God said, ‘Let us raise
Lights in the sky to mark the days
And nights and seasons and months and years.
’So – the moon and the stars and the sun appears.
The first sunrise and the first sunset
And God said, ‘Yes! The best day yet!’
The Fifth Day, God got up and said, ‘Today it is our will
That fish swim in the seas and flying birds the heavens fill.
’So wrens and sparrows fluttered and albatrosses soared
And cod and plaice and octopuses praised the Lord
The sun rose early and it went down late
And God said, ‘Yes! …….That’s great!’
The sixth Day dawned and God turned his hand
To creating all the animals that live upon the land’
The rabbit and the elephant, the cat and kangaroo
And lastly, in his image, he created me and you.
The sun rose in the East and it sank into the West,
And God said, ‘Yes! This has got to be the best!’
Day Seven God rested, to contemplate the worth
Of all he’d made in Heaven and Earth.
Let us with hand and heart and voice
Praise God in whom our souls rejoice,
And with each rising and setting sun
Say, ‘Yes! Praise the Lord for all he’s done!’
Amen, alleluia, alleluia, amen!
© Margaret Gillard (2004), Hillfarrance, Somerset
This first appeared in “Country Way” Issue 48 in 2008
Module 2 - Celebrating Creation!
