Faith

Therefore

~ admin

Left

Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return
And come with singing unto Zion
And everlasting joy shall be
upon their heads. upon their heads.

Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return
And come with singing unto Zion
And everlasting joy shall be
upon their heads. upon their heads.

They shall obtain They shall obtain
gladness and joy gladness and joy
And sorrow and sighing
shall flee away. shall flee away.

Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return
And come with singing unto Zion
And everlasting joy shall be
upon their heads. upon their heads.

Right

Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return
And come with singing unto Zion
And everlasting joy shall be
upon their heads.

Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return
And come with singing unto Zion
And everlasting joy shall be
upon their heads.

They shall obtain
gladness and joy
And sorrow and sighing
shall flee away.

Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return
And come with singing unto Zion
And everlasting joy shall be
upon their heads.

Music: Ruth Lake Words: Ruth Lake © 1972
The copyright of this arrangement of music a cappella is held by Stuart Moffatt (© 2022).
If you wish to perform it then to be safe you are likely to need a CCLI licence or hard copies of Scripture in Song, or another book containing this work, though the writer remembers learning the song from another who merely had a guitar and a voice, and seems to think that that might have been before 1972, but then the song may have been in circulation before it appeared in print.
For the avoidance of doubt, the version here is for educational purposes to illustrate the use of a close coupled group of female voices to bring to life a gospel song.
The midi file was produced using Noteworthy Composer.
The mp3 was produced using Myriad software.
Also on NWC Scriptorium

Conspiracy or no conspiracy

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What matters? He shall scorn them

You may be aware of what some call conspiracy theories, such as the prospect of the WHO imposing restrictions on and within sovereign states in the event of another [so-called] pandemic, and the plans of the ‘liberal elite’, the few individuals who have more wealth than many sovereign states, to form a world government. Coco is not suggesting that Coco agrees with those who promote these theories, nor with those who might promote these alternate ideologies, but it does present an interesting prospect. We have seen how the restrictions imposed over the recent three years have provided significant economic opportunities for some but have left others impoverished due to an inability to work. For those who are able to gain in such times a return to them, in a more controlled way through the new institutions which may be established if these theories are correct, would not be something to be shunned, but rather embraced with open arms. But where does that leave those who are not able to benefit? The combination of these two ideas tends towards a dystopia of unparalleled dimensions; or is that really so?

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Xenophobia of the worst kind

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What we learn from xenophobia

You probably all have some idea of the story of Jonah who was swallowed by a great fish. One of the problems with the popular story is that it leaves out Jonah’s xenophobia. Though xenophobia was unlikely to be a word that he knew, the idea of it was thoroughly encapsulated in phrases such as the Greeks and the Barbarians.

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Republic?

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When the heads are in the clouds

In many ways Coco prefers to stay out of politics, it is all too difficult and Coco rarely understands the arguments, but then so apparently does Republic. It is non-political. So, it is appropriate to comment then. One king was once told, ‘Obedience is better than sacrifice’. It is a word to which all kings, whether having the name king or some other epithet that is used to camouflage their aspirations to be king, should take heed. It was said of the Cretans that everyone of them wanted to be king, and of the Israelis in the time of the judges: ‘Every one did what was right in their own eyes. There was no king in Israel.’

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Water

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The penalties for disobedience

Apparently water refuses to obey the rules. It is one minute and three seconds in here:
BBC teaching video: Why water is one of the weirdest things in the universe
Does this not mean that there is something wrong somewhere? Apparently water is made up of two very light chemicals, hydrogen and oxygen and the rules say that…Coco shall not repeat the obvious mistake.

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Monuments

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The Paradox of Monuments

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

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Resolving

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Spero meliora?

Thinking about the new year, Coco had been locked in a discussion with a linguistical friend, who could turn your Latin homework into better Latin than ever Pliny’s grandson would have even dreamed he could write, trying to find a better expression of ‘Spero meliora’ than is offered either by Google translate or by the owners of the motto. It seemed to Coco to be far too weak to be a good motto, though Coco had no doubt that to the literate Roman it carried much more weight that Micawber’s ‘Something will turn up’, which is all the poor English language can muster. Coco had hoped for better. ‘Semper ad Meliora’ is hardly an improvement, though ‘Semper meliora’ may be closer to that for which Coco had hoped. It was inevitable that Coco should come out of the discussion with a turnip nose, as in cauliflower ear, of which Coco had learned from the Third Programme’s heir at about 1845 this evening¹. Beware if you have such a thing lest when you use tobacco and blow smoke from it the fire wardens are not called out!

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