HAPPY NEW YEAR

God of tomorrows, we thank you for the gift of a new year. Morning by morning new mercies we see. We bring our joy and anticipation. We also bring our still-fresh pain as we remember the ones we lost in the past year. We bring the sting of disappointment as we ponder over the relationships that have been broken in the year past. We bring the burden of sadness as we struggle to recover from losing jobs. And we bring our hope that you will help us. Free us, right now, from being identified only by the events of our life. May the God Event in our life mark our life, so that we might worship you this day in the beauty of your holiness. Amen.

–B. Kevin Smalls,

JESUS, CHILD OF GOD

     Jesus, Child of God, we welcome you now. Long have we waited for you. Our cluttered minds and our fettered hearts yearn for the freedom you bring.

    Jesus, Child of God, release us from the barriers that keep us from hearing your voice in our world today. Slow down our frantic, busy minds and activities so that we can “find our rest in you.”

    Jesus, Child of God, you are our strength, our hope, our comfort, and our consolation.  You are, indeed, the hope of the world. Send your strength and healing to every broken place, every despondent heart.

    Jesus, Child of God, you are our desire, our joy, our hunger, our longing.  Even nations desire you. We desire your peace and your presence in our hungering world and our longing hearts.

    Jesus, Child of God, let us welcome you with holy hospitality.  May we prepare a place within our hearts and our lives for your loving presence. Amen.

–Beth Richardson,
Child of the Light

Tribute to Nelson Mandela

People cared about Nelson Mandela, loved him, because of his courage, convictions and care of others’....He perfectly understood that people are dependent on other people in order for individuals and society to prosper.

He transcended race and class in his personal actions, through his warmth and through his willingness to listen and to emphasise with others. And he restored others’ faith in Africa and Africans.

...Certainly, he was exceptional. But the spirit of greatness that he personified resides in all of us. Human beings are made for greatness. Nelson Mandela embodied and reflected our collective greatness. He embodied our hopes and our dreams. He symbolized our enormous potential, potential that has not always been fulfilled...

I believe he was saintly because he inspired others powerfully and revealed in his character, transparently, many of God’s attributes of goodness: compassion, concern for others, and a desire for peace, forgiveness and reconciliation.

As a mark of our respect for him, let us use this moment in our history to reach out to one another again, to prove to ourselves and the world that our greatness was not illusory – that it exists.

Let us love one another as we loved him. Let us celebrate Madiba, together, and not let him down.

-Archbishop Desmond Tutu

GOD GIVEN THANKS

Generous God, thank you.

For the gift of life, the gift of creation,

and this amazing world,

thank you.

For the gift of lungs that know how to breath

without my telling them,

for galaxies that spin without my spinning them,

for living beings that surround me and give life,

I thank you.

For the mystery of my life,

the path that has brought me this far,

for all those who have been part of my story,

all of them, I thank you.

I am grateful for loved ones near and far,

for those I live with and those who I seldom see,

and those who have touched me only once,

for they are the tree that holds the nest of my life.

For the wonders that surround me,

the beauty and strangeness,

the color and music of this life,

I thank you,

and pray for eyes and ears of wonder.

For the mystery of your presence within me,

your attentiveness to my every heartbeat,

your unfathomable delight in my being,

your forgiveness and healing,

for your gift of renewal and your resurrecting in me,

and for your energy in me,

the shining sun of you in me,

I give thanks and pray that I may always be mindful.

For all your gifts I am grateful, delighted and amazed,

and pray that I may ever be so.

For all that is to come, I ask not for goods or favors,

but only this:

a heart of wonder, humility, gratitude and delight.

Amen

 

-Steve Garnaas-HolmesUnfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

This is a Day for You

May this be a day of hope,

of expectation,

of relishing each moment

as a gift from you.

May this be a day of freedom,

of breaking free,

of loosening the chains that

still surround us.

May this be a day of peace,

of wholeness,

of knowing that our lives

are in your hands.

May this be a day of joy,

of blessings,

of living in your kin(g)dom

as a child of God.

 

-©John Birch

www.faithandworship.com

God of our Day

God of morning and rising sun,

with breaking dawn

the beauty of your creativity

is revealed for all to see.

And we shall sing your praise.

God of noontime and gentle rain,

you bring to us refreshment

on our daily journeying,

and the strength to persevere.

And we shall sing your praise.

God of evening and setting sun,

you send us out in faith

and bring us safely home again,

such is your love and grace.

And we shall sing your praise.

-John Birch

Solitude

Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life.  Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and him alone.  If we really believe not only that God exists but also that he is actively present in our lives – healing, teaching, and guiding – we need to set aside a time and space to give him our undivided attention.  Jesus says, “Go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place.” (Matt. 6:6)

From  Making All Things New by Henri J.M. Nouwen