Safe! Home safe! A welcome mat of rainbows Hands outstretched to clasp the stranger. Love, you are the power lifting our open arms The thought enabling our inclusion The spirit warming our hearts to the ‘other’, Reminding us that we are ‘other’ to them. Emmanuel, yours is the face they wear, Yours is the clan […]
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We believe that the imagery conveyed by language and language itself is important and that they articulate and influence our understandings of what is revealed to us about the nature and activity of God and the dignity of all God’s people as created in the image of God. — Inclusive Language Covenant, United Church of Christ […]
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Brian Schroeder’s article, ‘De-gendering God: How inclusive language revolutionizes worship’, can be found on his website: Worship Forward–resources for inclusive churches. A church musician, Brian explains: ‘A great way to easily find gender-free worship songs is to seek out ‘You’ language. A lot of songs that refer to God as ‘You’ are safer bets for […]
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Arising from Exodus 3.14 (Year A, Season after Pentecost, Proper 17) I am. I am who I am. There are times when I know who I am. There are times when I don’t know who I am. There are times when I wish I didn’t know who I am. I have a God, who when […]
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This could be read by numerous readers (perhaps passing it around a circle) or in the traditional one/many responsive reading style. It might be used for a nightime reading with a child or with a group out under the summer stars. One: Holy darkness, hold us. Many: Gentle darkness, soothe us. One: Peaceful darkness, heal […]
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Loving God Creator God Accepting God Forgiving God Guiding God Encouraging God Restoring God Transforming God Leading God Blessing God Inspired by a pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland
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with homage to Rumi, the Sufi poet You, the pollen on the bee’s leg That made my flower a pomegranate, You, the haze of yeast on the grapes That made the wine That inebriated Shams of Tabriz, You, who made the clay birds fly, You, who cleansed the soul of ‘I’. You, the reason that […]
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We believe in the Divine Creator of all that has been made, the Parent of the whole creation. We believe in the Divine Saviour of all that has fallen, the Restorer of our broken world. We believe in the Divine Life of all that lives, the Love that binds all things together in one divine […]
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Mothering God, Love me anew into life Bearing the birth Of a new beginning I cannot yet see Nor fully understand Yet know I need. Press into me a pulse Enlivening every deadness Shedding every fear Bearing necessary pain For new beginnings Required for this life You renew to rise. Grant me grace O Mothering […]
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Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain Bearer, Life-Giver, Source of all that is and that shall be. Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your heavenly will be done by […]
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‘Where can we find a powerful image of the Divine feminine within Jewish sources? One name for Her which has been with us for centuries is the Shekhinah, the ‘dweller within.’ — Rabbi Jill Hammer A Prayer to the Shekhinah […]
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