Saturday, 11 February 2017

(Belated) Christmas prayer ...



Light of the world you stepped down into darkness*
All of these years ago
Born in a humble place
To humble people
At a time of struggle
the time of Herod and of Roman rule

And your light shone out and spread wider and wider
And showed the world a new and radical way
The way of love.
A path of peace.
Freedom and healing and purpose.
We praise you God of love
We thank you Prince of peace

And here we find ourselves today
Ordinary people
In a stunning world
Overflowing with abundance
Full of potential
But where struggle is still with  us
In a world where tiny children flee Aleppo, not so far from Bethlehem
And we wonder what a world influenced by Trump and Putin might bring

But we trust in you.
God of light you were there at the very beginning
Bringer of light you were born on Christmas day
And nothing can put that light out
Your faithful love hovers over us
Your peace lives within us and shows us where to put our feet
Your hope reminds us that with you there is always a bigger picture
Your joy can find its home in us even when things get hard 
We praise you God of love
We thank you Prince of peace
We thank you for the gift of Christmas
Amen.

* with gratitude to Tim Hughes for this line from "Here I am to worship"

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