Theme “Life”
The year gone by
In prayer we look back at a year gone by. There have been triumphs, sometimes disasters and often periods of quietness and inertia. We have gained and possibly lost. We have promised and fulfilled, promised and not fulfilled. We have known moments of joy and moments of sadness. Our
Gathering words, we come together this morning
Bring your hopes and anticipations.
Bring your joys and celebrations.
Bring your sorrows and lamentations.
Bring your faith and adorations.
Bring to this hour of worship, all that makes your life real and meaningful, that is may be blessed by communion with the lives of others.
Opening words
We have made many decisions that have brought us finally to worship in this place. May our worship here continually increase our understanding of ourselves; and give us confidence that we can improve our lives and those of others by our behaviour.
Spirit of truth and life and love In our prayers and meditations today let
Let be
As the seasons change we can be especially conscious of our spiritual connections, our deepest connection with the world as it changes, our consciousness that the changing season reinforces a sense of the endurance of the earth and the natural world, that these things remain constant while we must go through change.
So we come
This world prays within you
This world of blissful surprise,
of ecstatic imaginings of
baby cry and lover’s sigh
and cloud roll into thunderhead
and rain falling on the tongue (and the lips and the teeth)
This world prays within you –
and turns your blood vivid blue as it oxygenates
pulses and electrifies neurons
through synapses
and then releases
Prayer for this day
Spirit of Life, Spirit of Love,
Spirit of Hope, Spirit of Justice,
God known by many different names:
You have given us a day unique from any other.
You have connected us, all of us, with each other, and with the world, in ways that are largely a mystery to us.
You have given us little
Taking the journey together
As we travel the paths that our lives reveal to us,
We are often not sure of the way, the distance, or the destination.
Nevertheless, we have each other.
We can look to one another for wisdom,
We can be grateful for each other’s companionship,
And we can seek support when we have lost hope.
A prayer of concerns and joys
Spirit of Life, you who animate the Universe
Help us to remember the gift that is a human life.
With our consciousness and senses, we can touch, taste, see and feel
So much that is good, and alluring, and enticing.
Spirit of Life, some of us here today may be thinking of concerns more than joys,