We Beat
These Knives From Death To Life
A Call and
Response Litany
We stand
together for peace and hope
We beat these knives from death to life
We weep with
those who are weeping
We beat these knives from death to life
We walk with
those who walk in fear
We beat these knives from death to life
We shine
light on the darkness within us all
We beat these knives from death to life
We choose
love over the lure of vengeance
We beat these knives from death to life
Together we
will transform not just knives - but lives
We beat these knives from death to life
We claim a
different story for Newham - that young lives won’t be cut down in their prime,
but all will live lives to the full
We beat these knives from death to life
We beat these
knives from death to life
We beat these knives from death to life
We beat these
knives from death to life
We beat these knives from death to life
The litany was written as a collaborative
piece for an event where knives were beaten into something beautiful. The event
was for people of all faiths and none. The “calls” were written in ten minutes with
participants at a workshop at the Well Centre in Bonny Downs as part of a
nationwide launch of Red Letter Christians UK on Saturday 15th of
June 2019. I wrote the “response” in the build-up to the event.
I've also added to this post an unused poster I designed in the build-up to the event.
You can see a write up of the events of 15th June in the Church Times https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/21-june/news/uk/swords-into-ploughshares-london-churches-tackle-knife-violence
You can see a write up of the events of 15th June in the Newham Recorder https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/bonny-downs-baptist-church-youth-violence-stand-1-6109496
