Wednesday, 19 June 2019

We beat these knives from death to life / Red Letter Christians UK / Bonny Downs


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 Newham Recorder https://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/bonny-downs-baptist-church-youth-violence-stand-1-6109496