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Community Affairs
Old and New
Some of the old things have found their way back into the new world we find ourselves in.
Kippen Street Fayre kind of happened amid some wild weather. Ayman Jarjour, a classical
guitarist, played in Kippen Kirk and helped raise over £2000 for Forth Valley Welcome. The
end of term school service took place. Concerts and gatherings are returning like before
the pandemic.
I love music and I am so grateful to be singing again with others. I missed singing in church
and I missed singing at concerts. Singing at home alone is not quite the same but better
than not singing. My faith is strongly influence by songs ancient and music of more recent
years. I know many people think all the songs we sing in church are ancient, and to be
honest some are many thousand years old like the psalms (songs) of King David. Half
a dozen times in the psalms and twice in the prophetic books, people are told to ‘sing a
new song to the Lord’ and the writers are encouraging people to express the feelings and
experiences in song. I wonder what songs will become the old songs we remember from
this time and what will be the news songs we will be singing in the decades to come.
Recently, I watched Sir Paul McCartney play
at Glastonbury (from the comfort of my sofa
in Kippen) a week after his 80 th birthday.
Other concerts and gatherings have been
happening and the music makes my heart
sing. Old classics and new fun tunes that
may one day be classics we know all the
words to have been great to join in the
expression of the human experience,
naming the old and giving rise the newness
coming into being.
Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen both
joined Sir Paul McCartney on the stage of
Glastonbury and lead the massive crowd in
old favourites. I know these musicians will still be wondering what new songs they will still
write within their lives. What songs will they express to capture not just the glory days but
also give language to the longing and hope of these days we are living breath by breath.
What has gone before has songs that we still cherish. What is coming into being is giving
rise to new songs. What has yet to happen may be written in the hopes of songs we sing as
we find our way of being in the world post-pandemic. I pray the songs in our hearts name
the heartache, lament, struggle, but do not leave us in the miry muck and lift our eyes and
hearts to something greater than just the moments we live. May God meet us in the music
we sing. May we sing with joy and express our hopes and fears. May we bring our prayers
to God even when we don’t understand what may come. Old and new find their home in
our days. May you know rest, joy, peace, comfort, and songs old and new.
God bless, Ellen
Sunday Worship in Kippen Kirk 11.15 am.
3 rd Sunday of month prayer time in the church from 4-5 pm. All welcome.
Rev. Ellen Larson Davidson, Minister
Kippen linked with Norrieston Parishes, Church of Scotland
Reg. Charity No. SC004286 (Kip) & SC028719 (Nor)
16 www.theweevine.org