Come all you weary

Nothing for ages, and two in two days...

Again, a product of time away on retreat, where the starting point was Jesus' famous invitation in Matthew 11: 28-30, hence the attached image taken from the notebook we were given at the start of the retreat, in which I started scribbling yesterday and today's pieces. It has been the theme for our current President David Turtle throughout the past year ( and I reflected on that a couple of months ago) and the inspiration for numerous hymns and songs by writers much better than me. But for some reason, the tune of the old traditional song "The Bunch of Thyme" started going round in my head in association with these words of Jesus. I probably haven't thought of that tune since my childhood days, when the version by Foster and Allen was a favourite of my mother's... I couldn't abide it (and that was before learning that its actually an unsubtle instruction to "young maidens" to protect their virginity), but so much of our childhood memories are embedded deep in our makeup. As Neil Hudson quoted this morning from Pete Scazzero,

"Jesus may be in your heart, but grandpa is in your bones."
Well, in my case it is my Mum who is deep in my bones, and her voice, driving me on and making me somewhat harder on myself than is actually healthy, is hard to shake off... So perhaps that is why I have set a paraphrase of Jesus' words to one of her favourite tunes...

Come all you weary and weighed down,
Perplexed, browned-off and just burned out,
Come walk beside me, come and hear my voice
Bring all your confusion and your doubt.

For I’ve still got work for you to do,
But you must take things at my pace.
Watch me, and learn from me, and your heart will beat
To the rhythm of God’s grace.

Come and lay your burden down,
Swap it for the load I’ll share with you.
My shoulders they are strong, and my heart is kind
I’ll walk with you your whole life through.

Selah

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