A prayer

Here we are amongst our fellows, in a place where we feel safe, a place we know and where we are known, in a loving community.

With all the problems and challenging situations in our lives, nevertheless, we have the safe still point of this community, on this Sunday, in this place.

Let us give thanks for the stability we enjoy in our lives amidst our friends and families.

Let us pray for all of our brothers and sisters whose lives are not so blessed; whose lives and communities are devastated by war, by terrorism, by famine, by drought, by sickness, by climate change.

Let us open our hearts so that we can empathise with our fellows and feel their pain.

Let us remember and hold in our hearts those who have had to leave their communities, hoping to build new relationships and new lives in foreign lands.

Let us recognise all those things we have in common with them and with people everywhere; our shared hopes and aspirations, for a settled home, a safe haven, rewarding work, a bright future for our children.

Let us help build our society into a place which extends the hand of welcome to all those who need it both without and within.

Let us work towards a safer, fairer world for all, wherever they may be.

Let us live our lives in such a way that we always behave towards others with the same care and compassion we would hope to receive ourselves.

Amen

A PRAYER by Jenny Jacobs from her service on Sunday 14 February 2016

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