The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beeching

Day 2 – Thursday after Ash Wednesday – Join The Song

To Read: 

From the Scriptures:

…whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,

¹¹ ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they existed and were created.’

(Revelation 4v9-11)

From Vicky Beeching:

Join The Song

One day every voice will sing
Every beggar, prince and king
Every nation, tongue and tribe
Every ocean in between will cry, will cry

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
To Him all the glory belongs
Praise Him above you heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Let all the earth sing along
Come join the song

Gathered round the throne above
We’ll be swept up in the melody
Hearts will overflow with love
We’ll be singing out a symphony, we’ll sing

Chorus:

The song that fills eternity
Sung throughout all history
As angels shout and kings lay down their crowns
We bow down

Chorus:

To Listen:

To Reflect:

I’m writing these reflections a few days after a week-long meeting of the General Synod of The Church of England in Church House, Westminster.  Meetings of Synod, whichever tradition of church you may belong to, have the capacity to be simultaneously mind-numbing and rage inducing, which, to be honest, is not at all a good look for the Body of Christ.  We have not yet made it to the unity of purpose and praise of Revelation Chapter 4!

The vagaries of holding a very large meeting in the middle of the busy City of Westminster means that our worship does not always reflect our unity either.  

Members travel from all parts of the land daily with those from further afield having to cope with an unfamiliar public transport system so they can’t always get everywhere on time.  Contrary to the TV series ‘Rev’^[1] life is not all about meetings with archdeacons in the back of a Black Cab!  However we can’t blame the vagaries of London Transport for the fact that our voices are not always, as John Milton aspires, ‘In tune with heaven.’.^[2]

Because the Church of England is a broad church we try and cater for all people.  Our twice daily worship moves from Evensong with Plainsong chant to Morning Prayer themed around our business for the day, times of enthusiastic praise with arms raised and electric guitars playing at ear-bleeding volumes to quieter contemplative worship from the Iona Community^[3] or Taizé^[4].  

We do try to break bread together but this has become harder as some of our number find it difficult to receive the sacraments from an archbishop who is a woman.  Which is a great sadness….

So, though we attempt to please everyone, we run the risk of satisfying no one.  But Synod, and each of us in our own churches, are called to attempt to Join the Song.  After all, when things are finally wrapped up…

One day every voice will sing
Every beggar, prince and king
Every nation, tongue and tribe
Every ocean in between will cry, will cry

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below…

It would be wonderful (and probably count as a miracle!) if not only General Synod, but all of us could heed Vicky’s words about worship.  

One day, whether we like plainsong or hymns, choruses or Latin chant, we will all sing together forever. Perhaps, especially if the worship where we find ourselves is not familiar or to our taste, we need to learn to ‘Join the song’.  For it is as we ‘Join the song’ regardless of whether we like it or not, that our praise becomes a sacrifice and we will finally find ourselves ‘In tune with heaven.’

To Pray:

Caedmon’s Hymn

(Caedmon – A.D. 657-680)

To Do: 

1. Worship in an unfamiliar place sometime this Lent
2. Sing a favourite Hymn, song or chorus out loud at least twice.

If you’re not able to sing easily or comfortably listen to this recording of Blest Pair of Sirens which is often used in the United Kingdom on grand National occasions such as Royal Weddings…..

oooOOOooo

If you would like to find out more about Vicky and her work here is a link to her Wikipedia entry. 

For a fuller picture her autobiography ‘Undivided’ is highly recommended

Please Note:  These reflections are also published on my blog: suffolkvicarhomes.com on Bluesky as @suffolkvicar.bsky.social, and on my public Facebook page  Suffolk Vicar – Rev Andrew Dotchin.  

If you would like them as a daily email please send a request to revdotchin@gmail.com

If you have enjoyed reading them please make a donation to The Clergy Support Trust  who provide generous grants to help clergy.

Acknowledgements:

These Reflections, ‘The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beaching’ are copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2026 and may be reproduced without charge on condition that their source is acknowledged.

All of the music on the video clips are from YouTube and are © Vicky Beeching.  

If you enjoy listening to her songs please consider buying her recordings.  A full discography and other information about Vicky can be found on her website vickybeeching.com.

Scripture quotations are from The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.  Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Prayers are from A Diary of Prayer compiled by Elizabeth Goudge and are copyright © 1966 The Estate of Elizabeth Goudge.

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^[1] For an overview of Rev click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rev._(TV_series)

^[2] From the Poem ‘At A Solemn Musick’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blest_Pair_of_Sirens

^[3] The origins of the Iona Community https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_Community

^[4] The origins of the Taizé Community https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taizé_Community