Heart of love,
spirit of mystery,
we silently live into this season
of pregnant darkness.
In the stillness we listen to what it means
to be a waiting, Advent people.
Holy one, source of grace,
we offer our praise and rejoice
in your creation and its gifts.
We gather
affirming the paradoxes of life,
days of bright fullness and
of gray emptiness,
moments of knowing your love and
times of sensing ourselves
isolated and alone,
years of being Christian community to one another and
times of separation and broken relationship,
experiences of darkness and light
that call us back to seeking gospel truth.
As we thankfully gather at this banquet table,
may we experience that gospel power of love.
We long to touch and be touched
by these symbols of brokenness and healing,
death and life,
community and transcendence.
Gracious spirit,
during this season of outward intensity and activity,
remind us of the need for inner quiet
that requires us to explore
the places of wilderness in our lives
and the life of our world.
Invite us to a deepening
of our prayers that call us into the heart of humanity.
Encourage us to offer gospel ways
of turning around,
of change,
of repentance,
of reconciliation and love.
December 6, 1998