Must the sword devour for ever

Some have almost despaired of parts of the OT for their apparent eagerness to do battle, which Christians have not always used wisely, whether during medieval crusades or what are perceived as their more recent equivalents. The ancient and equally human longings for peace in Scripture (cf 952) are perhaps less noticed, except for the ‘swords into ploughshares’ texts of Isaiah 2 and Micah 4. Christopher Idle wrote these verses in Peckham, SE London, 12–13 Sept 1996, but the seeds for them were sown in Suffolk. The words arose from his preaching from 2 Samuel 2:26–28 on Remembrance Sunday at Stuston (1989) and Burgate (1990); later, he says ‘I gave up the attempt [on such occasions] to reconcile the Bible’s message with the community’s expectations’. In Light upon the River, his own collection where the text was first published in 1998, it is headed ‘A cry for peace from Abner, the army commander’.

Somewhat to the author’s surprise but also delight, in 1997 the traditionally-minded Yorks composer Donald Webster wrote and offered his tune CHELWOOD for the words, and it was accepted for its first publication here. (Chelwood is a Somerset village S of Bristol and W of Bath.) At the last of his many distinctive appearances at the Hymn Society’s Annual Conference (at Leeds, 2001), well into retirement and, as it turned out, within a few months of his death, Dr Webster reported wryly that he had just received his first-ever royalties for a tune in a hymn book. In an entirely different mode, Sue Gilmurray composed her song-style INDUTIAE in 2000.

b Bromley, Kent 1938. Eltham Coll, St Peter’s Coll Oxford (BA, English), Clifton Theol Coll Bristol; ordained in 1965 to a Barrow-in-Furness curacy. He spent 30 years in CofE parish ministry, some in rural Suffolk, mainly in inner London (Peckham, Poplar and Limehouse). Author of over 300 hymn texts, mainly Scripture based, collected in Light upon the River (1998) and Walking by the River (2008), Trees along the River (2018), and now appearing in some 300 books and other publications; see also the dedication of EP1 (p3) to his late wife Marjorie. He served on 5 editorial groups from Psalm Praise (1973) to Praise!; his writing includes ‘Grove’ booklets Hymns in Today’s Language (1982) and Real Hymns, Real Hymn Books (2000), and The Word we preach, the words we sing (Reform, 1998). He edited the quarterly News of Hymnody for 10 years, and briefly the Bulletin of the Hymn Society, on whose committee he served at various times between 1984 and 2006; and addressed British and American Hymn Socs. Until 1996 he often exchanged draft texts with Michael Perry (qv) for mutual criticism and encouragement. From 1995 he was engaged in educational work and writing from home in Peckham, SE London, until retirement in 2003; following his return to Bromley after a gap of 40 years, he has attended Holy Trinity Ch Bromley Common and Hayes Lane Baptist Ch. Owing much to the Proclamation Trust, he also belongs to the Anglican societies Crosslinks and Reform, together with CND and the Christian pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation. A former governor of 4 primary schools, he has also written songs for school assemblies set to familiar tunes, and (in 2004) Grandpa’s Amazing Poems and Awful Pictures. His bungalow is smoke-free, alcohol-free, car-free, gun-free and TV-free. Nos.13, 18, 21, 23A, 24B, 27B, 28, 31, 35, 36, 37, 48, 50, 68, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85, 89, 92, 95, 102, 108, 109, 114, 118, 119A, 121A, 125, 128, 131, 145B, 157, 176, 177, 193*, 313*, 333, 339, 388, 392, 420, 428, 450, 451, 463, 478, 506, 514, 537, 548, 551, 572, 594, 597, 620, 621, 622, 636, 668, 669, 693, 747, 763, 819, 914, 917, 920, 945, 954, 956, 968, 976, 1003, 1012, 1084, 1098, 1138, 1151, 1158, 1159, 1178, 1179, 1181, 1201, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1221, 1227, 1236, 1237, 1244, 1247, 5017, 5018, 5019, 5020.