During this Lenten period, we attended a concert reflecting on the Passion week in particular by Michael Card, an American songwriter and author http://www.michaelcard.com/ Michael Card has long been one of my favourite songwriters, combining depth of lyrics with a scholar’s grasp of the Bible and an ability to express truth through a variety of musical styles, and it was a privilege to again be able to listen and to reflect on the story of Easter.

I grew up, as mentioned before, learning about paradox first hand at university, having become a Christian the year before I left home, and Michael’s songs held me steady through the secular world of doubt and scorn. His commitment to truth and to community reflected my own beliefs. He wasn’t afraid of lament, pain and doubt, and I learned to sing the psalms (even the uncomfortable ones!) through many of his songs. A few years older than me, he wrote the lullabies I sang to my son when he was born. He’s even left-handed like I am!

So, last night, as a family we travelled to Hinckley in Leicestershire to a small United Reform Church to reflect on the Passion week. If anyone’s interested, the songs sung were:

* Only His Wounds
* Known by The Scars
* Ride on to Die
* How much more a servant could He be?
* A Better Freedom
* Come to the Table
* The Basin and the Towel
* In the Garden
* Why?
* The Death of A Son (Psalm 22)
* The Tears of the World
* Crown Him
* This Must Be The Lamb
* All that was lost
* Emmanuel
* Love Crucified Arose
* Only His Wounds (reprise)



Some of the things that stood out for me as we reflected on the life, death and resurrection of the Lord were the fact that our Lord truly is a servant – ‘the suffering servant’ described by Isaiah, conquering through weakness, triumphing through obedience, winning the battle at Gethsemane before the final war at Golgotha – and the fact that despite all He had taught them, no one really expected the resurrection – there was a ‘persistence of doubt’ among the followers of Christ that only the power of His Spirit could remove. May we find encouragement even in our own suffering, doubt and weakness, for when we are weak, then He is strong.