Kicking at the Darkness is a liturgy inspired by the music of Canadian Songwriter Bruce Cockburn. It was first used on March 11, 2012 at Church of the Redeemer in Toronto, Ontario and written by Brian Walsh.
As with all our resources, if you choose to use this elsewhere, please credit the original author, and provide a link to its source.
Throughout the liturgy, the words of the leader / celebrant are in plain text, and the words for the congregation are in bold. All songs are meant to be sung congregationally.
Prelude
Coldest Night of the Year (from the album Resume)
I was up all night, socializing
Trying to keep the latent depression from crystalizing
Now the sun is lurking just behind the Scarborough
horizon
And you’re not even here
On the coldest night of the year.
I took in Yonge Street at a glance
Heard the punkers playing
Watched the bikers dance
Everybody wishing they could go to the south of France
And you’re not even here
On the coldest night of the year.
Hey look at me now
See the shape I’m in
It’s taken me so long to catch on to what’s going on
Inside this skin
When two lovers really love there’s nothing there
But this suddenly compact universe
Skin and breath and hair
I watched the all night TV show
In the all night bar
I drove all the people home
I was the one with the car
Now I’m sitting here alone and sleepless
and wondering where you are
And wishing you were here
On the coldest night of the year
The Gathering of the Community
(Please stand if you are able)
Who are you?
We are lovers in a dangerous time.
Where is the danger?
We live in a broken-wheeled world.
What are you looking for?
Liberated imaginations,
lives of shalom.
So what’s the problem?
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
sometimes you’re made to feel as if your love’s a crime.
It is criminal to close down your options
in a world of infinite choice.
It is criminal to say ‘enough’
in a world of more.
It is criminal to love your enemy
in a world at war.
It is criminal to give yourself freely
where everything has its price.
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
sometimes you’re made to feel as if your love’s a crime,
nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
got to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight
Refusing to be enslaved to the powers,
we are waiting for a miracle.
Refusing the forces of darkness,
we are waiting for a miracle.
Refusing the false comfort of the powers,
we are waiting for a miracle.
Kick at the darkness,
seek the welfare of the city.
Kick at the darkness,
spirits open to the thrust of grace.
Kick at the darkness,
rooted in grace.
Kick at the darkness
living in the light.
Kick at the darkness,
because the darkness
will not have the final word.
Kick at the darkness,
embracing the foolishness of the cross.
Kick at the darkness,
because the light has come.
Who are you?
We are lovers in a dangerous time.
Who are you?
Spirits open to the thrust of grace.
Who are you?
Dwellers by a dark stream.
Who are you?
Crying hearts, hooked on a dark dream.
What do you want?
Lord, spit on our eyes so we can see.
What do you want?
Trying to keep the latent depression from crystalizing.
How come history takes such a long, long time,
when you’re waiting for a miracle?
Hymn
Lord of the Starfields (from the album In the Falling Dark)
Lord of the starfields
Ancient of Days
Universe Maker
Here’s a song in your praise
Wings of the storm cloud
Beginning and end
You make my heart leap
Like a banner in the wind
O love that fires the sun
Keep me burning.
Lord of the starfields
Sower of life,
Heaven and earth are
Full of your light
Voice of the nova
Smile of the dew
All of our yearning
Only comes home to you
O love that fires the sun
keep me burning
The Proclamation of the Word
Gradual Hymn
Lovers in a Dangerous Time (from the album Stealing Fire)
Don’t the hours grow shorter as the days go by
You never get to stop and open your eyes
One day you’re waiting for the sky to fall
The next you’re dazzled by the beauty of it all
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
These fragile bodies of touch and taste
This vibrant skin — this hair like lace
Spirits open to the thrust of grace
Never a breath you can afford to waste
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
Sometimes you’re made to feel as if your love’s a crime —
But nothing worth having comes without some kind of
fight —
Got to kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
And we’re lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
The Gospel
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John.
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon
Prayers of the People
based on Dweller by a Dark Stream (from the album Mummy Dust)
Cantor (singing)
It could have been me
put the thorns in your crown,
rooted as I am
in a violent ground.
How many times have I turned
your promise down,
still you pour out your love,
you pour out your love.
People (singing)
I was a dweller by a dark stream
a crying heart
hooked on a dark dream,
in my convict soul
I saw your love gleam,
and you showed me
what you’ve done.
Jesus, thank you, joyous Son.
Leader (spoken)
What were you thinking, Lord?
What were you thinking?
We are a people who dwell in the dark,
held captive by a dark dream.
We have embraced our own wisdom
and been proven fools,
yet your light shines in our darkness.
[silence]
Still you pour out your love,
you pour out your love.
On a forsaken hill in Galilee,
on a hill of death in Jerusalem,
you pour out your love.
People (singing)
Jesus, thank you, joyous Son.
Cantor (singing)
You entered a life like ours
to give us back our own.
You wanted us like you
as choosers not clones.
You offered up your flesh
and death was overthrown.
Now salvation is ours,
salvation is ours.
People (singing)
I was a dweller by a dark stream
a crying heart
hooked on a dark dream,
in my convict soul
I saw your love gleam,
and you showed me
what you’ve done.
Jesus, thank you, joyous Son.
Leader (spoken)
Your word is sweet,
but we spit it out.
Your word is true,
but we live in deceit.
Your word is wise,
but we have been fools.
[silence]
It is all so extravagant, Lord.
It is all so over the top.
This gift, this rich word, this wisdom.
Give us grace, Lord,
give us grace to receive this gift.
People (singing)
Jesus, thank you, joyous Son.
Cantor (singing)
So I’m walking
this prison camp world.
I long for a glimpse of
the new world unfurled.
The chrysalis cracking
and moisten wings uncurled.
Like in the vision John saw,
the vision John saw.
People (singing)
I was a dweller by a dark stream
a crying heart
hooked on a dark dream,
in my convict soul
I saw your love gleam,
and you showed me
what you’ve done.
Jesus, thank you, joyous Son.
Leader (spoken)
In a prison camp world,
you see freedom.
In a world
of violent darkness,
you unfurl a home of welcome.
Give us eyes to see
beyond the walls of fear;
give us hope to see
beyond our betrayals;
give us grace to bear the fruit
of repentance in our lives.
[silent and spoken prayers for the world]
In the midst of despair,
you are hope,
in the face of death,
you are resurrection
We bring before you
all who are sick,
in despair, lonely, confused,
in mourning or close to death,
all who dwell in the shadow of darkness.
[silent and spoken prayers]
Come, Lord Jesus,
the wisdom of God,
the crucified one;
come and enlighten our darkness.
Come, Holy Spirit,
come and bear the fruit of wisdom in our lives.
People (singing)
Jesus, thank you, joyous Son.
The Peace
Jesus is a joyous Son,
and so I can say to you,
my sisters and brothers,
The peace of the Lord
be always with you.
And also with you.
[We pass the peace to each other]
Offertory Hymn
Mystery (from the album Life Short Call Now)
You can’t tell me there is no mystery
Mystery
Mystery
You can’t tell me there is no mystery
It’s everywhere I turn
Moon over junk yard where the snow lies bright
Snow lies bright
Snow lies bright
Moon over junk yard where the snow lies bright
Can set my heart to burn
Infinity always gives me vertigo
Vertigo
Vertigo
Infinity always gives me vertigo
And fills me up with grace
So grab that last bottle full of gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline
Grab that last bottle full of gasoline
Light a toast to yesterday
And don’t tell me there is no mystery
Mystery
Mystery
And don’t tell me there is no mystery
It overflows my cup
This feast of beauty can intoxicate
Intoxicate
Intoxicate
This feast of beauty can intoxicate
Just like the finest wine
So all you stumblers who believe love rules
Believe love rules
Believe love rules
Come all you stumblers who believe love rules
Stand up and let it shine
Stand up and let it shine
The Celebration of the Eucharist
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right to praise you, Father,
Lord of all creation;
in your love you made us for yourself.
When we turned away
you did not reject us,
but came to meet us in your Son.
You embraced us as your children,
and welcomed us to sit
and eat with you.
In Christ you shared our life
that we might live in him
and he in us
He opened his arms of love
upon the cross,
and made for all
the perfect sacrifice for sin.
On the night he was betrayed,
at supper with his friends
he took bread, and gave you thanks;
he broke it and gave it to them saying:
Take, eat; this is my body
which is given for you;
do this in remembrance of me.
We do this in remembrance of Jesus:
his body is the bread of life.
At the end of supper,
taking the cup of wine,
he gave you thanks, and said:
Drink this, all of you;
this is my blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for you
for the forgiveness of sins;
do this in remembrance of me.
We do this in remembrance of Jesus:
his blood is shed for all.
As we proclaim his death
and celebrate his rising in glory,
send your Holy Spirit
that this bread and this wine
may be to us the body and blood
of your dear Son.
As we eat and drink
these holy gifts
make us one in Christ,
our risen Lord.
With your whole Church
throughout the world
we offer this sacrifice of praise
and lift our voice to join
the eternal song of heaven:
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
And now as our Saviour taught us,
let us pray,
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory
are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
The Breaking of the Bread
We break this bread,
Communion in Christ’s body
once broken.
Let your Church be the wheat
which bears its fruit in dying.
If we have died with him,
we shall live with him;
if we hold firm,
we shall reign with him.
These are the gifts of God,
and they are for the people of God
Thanks be to God.
The Communion
Hymn
All the Diamonds (from the album Salt, Sun and Time)
All the diamonds in this world
That mean anything to me
Are conjured up by wind and sunlight
Sparkling on the sea
I ran aground in a harbour town
Lost the taste for being free
Thank God He sent some gull-chased ship
To carry me to sea
Two thousand years and half a world away
Dying trees still grow greener when you pray
Silver scales flash bright and fade
In reeds along the shore
Like a pearl in sea of liquid jade
His ship comes shining
Like a crystal swan in a sky of suns
His ship comes shining.
Prayer After Communion
May the exorbitant love of God,
the grace of the One who hung on a dying tree,
and the comfort of the Holy Spirit
that wind and sunlight sparking on the sea,
be with you this evening, this week
and into the Everlasting. Amen
Dismissal
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Postlude
Waiting for a Miracle (from the album Waiting for a Miracle)
Look at them working in the hot sun
The pilloried saints and the fallen ones
Working and waiting for the night to come
And waiting for a miracle
Somewhere out there is a place that’s cool
Where peace and balance are the rule
Working toward a future like some kind of mystic jewel
And waiting for a miracle
You rub your palm
On the grimy pane
In the hope that you can see
You stand up proud
You pretend you’re strong
In the hope that you can be
Like the ones who’ve cried
Like the ones who’ve died
Trying to set the angel in us free
While they’re waiting for a miracle
Struggle for a dollar, scuffle for a dime
Step out from the past and try to hold the line
So how come history takes such a long, long time
When you’re waiting for a miracle