Theme “Inclusivity”
Fond words
Jan Struther wrote:
Hard words will break no bones:
But more than bones are broken
By the inescapable stones
Of fond words left unspoken.
And so let us pray:
So let us in the quiet of our minds speak fond words:
for those to whom we are close and who are close to us;
for those whose presence
Prayer for diversity
Spirit of Life, Spirit of Love,
Spirit of Hope, Spirit of Justice,
God known by many different names, yet known to all faiths:
What a gift you have given us by making us different from one another!
Each of us with our own perspectives and beliefs,
Each of us with our own strengths,
Each of us
Chalice lighting, for those who are not in the room
We light this Chalice for the people who are not in the room.
May our circle of light fall upon those on the margins; the vulnerable and forgotten, those trapped at home by illness and age, those who feel judged, excluded, ashamed, in pain.
May our warmth hold those with precarious lives; carers and struggling parents, those
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall
We see barriers erected between people of different lands.
We see sheets of steel and towers of concrete called ‘Protection’.
We see boundaries policed.
Watch men, women and children running from hunger and persecution,
looking for a gap in the wall………
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall…………
We see walls of fear
In this sacred gathering
In this sacred gathering may the joyful find space to praise….
May the inquirers feel safe to question…..
May the lonely find the touch of a friend……
May the singers be given a tune to sing…..
May the lost discover the way…..
And may we all experience the touch of the Holy in this hour.