The Wonder of the Cross – 40 Days with the Music of Vicky Beeching
Day 32 – Thursday after Lent 5 – Created
To Read:
From the Scriptures:
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 When it returns, it finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
(Luke 11v24-26)
From Vicky Beeching:
Created
You formed us from the dust
You breathed Your breath in us
We are the work of Your hands
Now we breathe back to You
Love songs of gratitude
Adoring You with all we have
‘Cause we were created
To worship Your name
We were created
To bring You our praise
If we don’t worship You
We’ll search for substitutes
To fill the void in our souls
Worshiping other things
Destroys our liberty
But as we praise You, we are free
Chorus
So we will worship
So we will praise
You our Creator
For all our days
This is what we were made to do
(Echo: We were created for) (repeats)
So we lift up our praise to You
We were created (x3)
To worship Your name
We were created
To bring You our praise
So we will worship
So we will praise
You our Creator
For all our days
You our Creator
For all our days
To Listen: Created by Vicky Beeching:
To Reflect:
In our parish a group of blokes meet every other Monday afternoon in a local pub for a pint and a bit of a chat about the Bible. For the last six months we have been looking at episodes of the TV Series The Chosen.[1] It is a well put together programme but, as is the way of the world of the Silver Screen, it does have a few continuity errors. In our most recent meeting we noticed an actor had learnt to train her eyes to move from right-to-left when ‘reading’ a Hebrew script, but then spoilt the effect by using a quill pen to ‘write’ Hebrew characters from left-to-right… (Yes, I am left-handed and I believe our Beloved is. The Word of the Lord cannot be smudged when it is written down…).
Currently we are looking at Mary Magdalene who, having been delivered from evil spirits finds the shadow of her previous life haunting her when she meets another demon-possessed person and some Roman Soldiers whilst she is walking alone.
Look again at the video clip and see her smile at her old frightened-ness remembering that she is no longer to be called Lilith[2] but instead carries the name which she was given at birth and the one with which Jesus called her.
Mary has learnt to, as Vicky sings, fill the void in her soul left by the departure of the evil that used to overwhelm her life with a deep and tender love that will lead her to be the first witness to the resurrection and Apostle to the Apostles.
Her own re-birth, her own resurrection if you will have it, happened long before she went to the Garden Tomb. Meeting Jesus she knew she could no longer be the false self she was living, trying to gain acceptance by being a plaything of others instead of being the servant of the Lord.
So too with us. Just as yesterday we looked at things which were unhealthy and sinful for us we need to go one step further and fill the void left by our sin with worship and devotion.
It is a commonplace today to say that many people, especially young people (why is it always young people who are ‘blamed’?) have abandoned formal religion in favour of spirituality. There is a belief in angels but not in the One who made the angels. There is a belief in earth, water, tree, and sky spirits but no turning towards the one Spirit who is the very Breath of Life.
Dr Vicky diagnoses this modern, yet oh so ancient, dis-ease:
If we don’t worship You
We’ll search for substitutes
To fill the void in our souls
Worshiping other things
Destroys our liberty
Mary Magdalene was finally set free from her fear of the Romans and all the other demons of her life when she allowed her life to be filled with the love of our Beloved. Could it perhaps be possible if we also filled our life with worship of The One Who Loves us Best we too might finally find our freedom? And in living lives of freedom witnesses to other empty souls and become an apostle of God’s love for them.
To Pray:
Write Thy blessed name, O Lord,
upon my heart,
there to remain so indelibly engraved,
that no prosperity,
no adversity shall ever move me from Thy love.
Be Thou to me
a strong Tower of defence,
a Comforter in tribulation,
a Deliverer in distress,
a very present Help in trouble,
and a Guide to heaven
through the many temptations
and dangers of this life.
(Thomas à Kempis)
To Do:
Each year in the time between Ascension Day to Pentecost churches across the globe gather together to pray ‘Thy Kingdom Come[3]’. At its heart is a commitment from those taking part to pray for five friends, family members, or acquittances to come to know the love of God more fully.
In the next few days start praying about which five people should be on your list. And if you want to start early instead of just ten days pray for them daily for all 50 days from Easter to Pentecost.
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.
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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.
[1] For a synopsis of this free to view programme visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chosen_(TV_series)
[2] Choosing to use the name ‘Lilith’ for Mary’s character in The Chosen seems to be an attempt to square the circle between traditions that she was both a demoniac and a woman of ill-repute – for which there is no biblical warrant. Something which a male dominated Christianity has, sadly, tried to perpetuate. Read here for an essay on the origins of ‘Lilith’ in Ancient Near East mythology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith
[3] For details and resources to help you and your church pray Thy Kingdom Come this year visit: https://www.thykingdomcome.global
Suffolk Vicar 