Notes

Stir Up is number 49 from Additional Hymns. It was written for the Sunday before Advent. It was on this day, traditionally that the Christmas pudding was mixed, with everyone in the family having a stir.

Suggested tune: Author of Life, Sir John Stainer (A&MR 394)

Please press the red title to hear a MIDI recording of this tune, and then re-open this window to read the poem while listening.

If you would prefer to follow the tune and text on paper you may download a PDF file of this hymn.

For permission to perform or reproduce this hymn, or for enquiries regarding the purchase of 'Hymns For All Seasons', please contact Jocelyn.

Stir Up

Stir up in us, O Lord,
such zeal, inspired by you,
that we may be empowered
in all we plan and do.
We give you thanks for life and health -
your boundless love our greatest wealth.

Stir up in us, O Lord,
concern for others' needs.
May we reflect Christ's love
in all our words and deeds.
Help us by faith the wrongs to right,
the wounds to heal, the darkness light.

Stir up in us, O Lord,
awareness of earth's pain –
seas ravaged, forests felled,
for the exploiter's gain.
May we reject the cult of greed,
conserve, protect, respond to need.

Stir up in us, O Lord,
passion for equity,
a vision to fulfill
that sees all people free
from fear, oppression, hunger, war.
May Christ be born in us once more.

Copyright © Jocelyn Marshall, 2008