We stand at the turning of the year –

looking back on what has been

and ahead to what is to come.

ALL                       

WE THANK YOU LORD FOR ALL THAT IS GOOD,

PLACE INTO YOUR HANDS WHAT WE NEED TO LEAVE BEHIND

AND TURN TO THE PATH YOU LAY BEFORE US.

We live in a world fractured by pain and desolation:     

GRANT YOUR BLESSING, LORD,

ON A WORLD CRUCIFIED BY HATRED

TORN APART BY FORCES

BEYOND THE CONTROL OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

We live in a world of people –

where faith seems vain

hope seems crushed

and love a dream beyond the grasp of many.

GRANT YOUR BLESSING ON YOUR SAD WORLD, LORD,

A SHADOW OF THE GREATNESS FOR WHICH IT WAS CREATED

AND YET DESTINED TO BE THE PLACE

IN WHICH YOU WILL BUILD YOUR KINGDOM

The world is moving into deeper darkness

as the weight of winter comes upon us.

We look to longer days of warmth and sunlight

yet only through the prism of the darkest night

can we come to that light.

Lord, the darkness comes upon us:

COME, LORD OF LIGHT

DISPEL THE SHADOWS WHICH HOLD US FEARFUL.

COME, LORD OF FLAME

WARM OUR HEARTS WITH YOUR CONSOLATION.

Lord, we see your world in turmoil and tremor:

where there is war and violence:

Lord, we see your world in pain and anguish

where your people suffer sickness of body, mind and spirit:

Lord, we see your world in grief and mourning

for so many are dying from disease and in war:

Lord, the world is a sad place at times –

and in the week ahead, we will meet sadness and pain –

in our own lives and through the media:

COME WITH US, LORD OF HOPE,

LORD OF LOVE.

KINDLE THE LIGHT OF PRAYER IN OUR HEARTS

SO THAT WE BRING THE LIGHT AND WARMTH OF YOUR LOVE

TO PEOPLE AND PLACES

WHERE DARKNESS AND COLD STRIVE TO HOLD DOMINION.

COME WITH US, LORD OF HOPE,

LORD OF LOVE.
 

MAY GOD HOLD US IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND.

AMEN.

© 2005 Wellspring