Amma

New Song: Amma

I wrote this song at Holland House for a retreat led by Nicola Slee. We were exploring her wonderful book “Abba Amma: Improvisations on the Lord’s Prayer” and in the afternoon were encouraged to try writing our own.

The starting point was imaging Jesus going up into the hills to pray and encountering Amma (Mother) God and it is flavoured with memories of walking with my mum up on Stiperstones. All the clauses of the Lord’s prayer are in there if you know where to look!

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LYRICS:
You wore a crown of mistletoe
I wore a garland of bramble
Out where the purple heather grows
Beneath the cliffs where rock hares ramble
Among the bilberries I lay
As with your gentle voice you called me
I watched the summer sun on your face
It shone with power and with glory

A flock of geese flew overhead
Tearing the sky with sound and feather
Their endless quest for daily bread
Bearing them them westward together
And as we watched the leaves drift down
And autumn told its broken story
You lifted off your mistletoe crown
Which shone with power and with glory

The ash tree shivered in the breeze
Paying its debt back to the winter
A hidden cache of squirrelled seeds
Offering deliverance for the future
You laid your crown down on the floor
And as I watched it there before me
The whole world was transformed
And filled with power and with glory

You wore a crown of mistletoe
I wore a garland of bramble
The springtime flowers blossomed and flowed
Covering the earth with joyful tangle
Like a child I came to you
And you were waiting, just like always
I curled up in your arms so true
Held with power and with glory

(c) Rich Clarkson 2022

Photo by Maria Vojtovicova on Unsplash