Lay for the Day 12th November

1660: John Bunyan is arrested at Lower Samsell in Bedfordshire for holding a service not in conformity with the Church of England. Refusing to give an assurance that he would not repeat the offence, he was sent to jail and remained there for 12 years. He began his book Pilgrim’s Progress (published in 1678) while he was in prison.

Five Get You Ten

Five’ll get you ten,
The who, how, why, where and when.
Two will get you four,
You don’t need more.
But if you hide from the sun
Two will get you one,
One will get you none.

Sitting out the night
Waiting for the light
Is like watching for a thief in disbelief
Seeing all the demons coming in
And seeking out the kiss of life.

Darkness all around,
No work to be found,
No deeds to do,
No light to bring them to,
But I keep chipping away
Cause I know that one day
I am going to see you.

To tell you the truth
I was a shy and wilful youth
With a stubborn and iniquitous mind,
Looking out for what the keepers find
And lucky to be treated so kind.

Father of lies,
Master of disguise,
Old Bendy,
Mr Friendly,
You can bring your demon hosts
And a million hungry ghosts
But you can’t have victory.

Some weren’t sent
And yet they hastened
And some were cherished, rebuked and chastened
And some were bent and some
Were straitened.

Five’ll get you ten,
The who, how, why, where and when.
Two will get you four,
You don’t need more.
But if you hide from the sun
Two will get you one,
One will get you none.

Words and music by The Children
From Songs from the Red Notebook