Lyrics are sung in Bemba and translated below into English. Here’s a link to Cephas Ng’oma singing this song. Chorus Uku Yahweh ekukabila kwa mutima wandi (YHWH, this is my heart’s desire) Uku Yahweh ekukabila kwa mweo wandi (YHWH, this is my life’s desire) Isusheni umutima wandi (Fill my heart) Isusheni umweo wandi (Fill […]
Read full textHopeful words
Hope — Pope Francis, VC
‘For the great human family, it is necessary to renew always the common horizon toward which we are journeying. The horizon of hope!’
Read full textVoice, hymn — Sam Goodman
Tune: Hereford A voice for the voiceless A promise of forgiveness A chance to be A people of blessing A call to share love that God richly gives so freely A love that encompasses A world that needs its healing A voice in the darkness To shine a light on visions That show us the […]
Read full textMission Statement — Deptford Church, London, UK
A church’s mission statement can hold words of affirmation, hope and promise. Our mission statements, our statements about who we are, have an important place in our churches, not just posted on the wall or printed on the website, but proclaimed aloud in our worship. Our vision is to have a healthy church […]
Read full textHealing prayer after trauma — Elizabeth Gray-King, UK
A prayer for healing after trauma Easily adapted for a group, e.g. using ‘our’ and ‘us’ God of all time, this time is difficult. My memories rush at me. My memories have disappeared as my mind manages each day. I am aware that others have had times like mine or worse. But God it feels […]
Read full textPrayer for ‘infection of good courage’ – Thomas More, England
Grant us, O Lord, The royalty of inward happiness And the serenity which comes from living close to Thee. Do Thou daily renew in us The sense of Joy so that by Thy Spirit, We may bear about us The infection of good courage. – Thomas More 1478-1535
Read full textPatient dawn — Sam Goodman
The next time it gets light I will awake with hope And tonight as it gets dark I will not fear The next time it grows light I will welcome the dawn The next time morning comes I’ll be reborn The next time it grows dark I will not hide away The darkness does not […]
Read full textDeath is nothing at All — Canon Henry Scott-Holland, UK, 1847-1918
Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away to the next room. I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, That, we still are. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. […]
Read full textNever let go — Sam Goodman, UK
Inspired by words of Julian of Norwich: ‘All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well for there is a force of love moving through the universe that holds us fast and we never let us go.’ Never let go Though it’s hard to hold on This love will hold you And […]
Read full textPsalm 19 Collect — Merryl Blair, Australia
Lent 3 & 5, Year B God of wide skies and speechless joy, as we come before you in wonder, may our words join the voiceless songs of praise uttered by the simple beauty of all created things. Allow your wisdom, balance, and connecting love to draw us into the centre of […]
Read full textPrayer in time of chaos — Kay Lowe-Wendling, USA
No matter how bad things get, there’s always hope. Even when things were at their worst for the young Anne Frank, she wrote: ‘The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does […]
Read full textHope restored: a grandmother’s thoughts — Ana Gobledale, UK
Written after visiting my first grandchild. Baby smells waft into my nostrils. A pattering heart pulsates in my embrace. Tearlets moisten my eyes. Powerful hope swirls through my core. This is my body. This is my blood. God’s own child rests in my arms. By what name shall this child be called? Hope. Promise. Future. […]
Read full textSacred time — Annie Heppenstall, UK
Let this be a sacred time, O God, in which I let what has begun, gradually grow, finding within me the patience and trust that allows me to tend my concerns with wisdom. This prayer by Annie Heppenstall was distributed at Gloucester Cathedral during the ‘Museum of the Moon’ exhibition in October 2019.
Read full textJesus bids us shine — Susan Warner, UK
Jesus bids us shine, With a pure, clear light, Like a little candle, Burning in the night. In this world is darkness, So, let us shine— You in your small corner, And I in mine. Jesus bids us shine, Then, for all around Many kinds of darkness In this world are found – Sin and […]
Read full textDark Moments — by Ann Lewin, UK
A reflection on Dame Julian of Norwich’s text from Revelations of Divine Love: ‘All shall be well. You shall see yourself that all things shall be well. That which is impossible for you is not impossible for me. I shall keep my word in all things and I shall make all things well.’ ‘All shall […]
Read full textBeauty Becoming — Ana Gobledale, Zambia
‘The realm of God is like a treasure hidden in a field….like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When one is found of great value, the merchant goes away, and sells all their belongings and buys it.’ –Matthew 13:44-46 Beauty Becoming The cutter eyes the stone A stalk of translucent green tourmaline Its essence shines […]
Read full textSilent Flight — Chris Roe, UK
In the silence The clarity of your voice, Climbs high Upon the eagle’s wings. The chains of doubt That imprison my soul, Fall away beneath my feet. In the freedom and majesty Of the sentinel’s gaze, Faith is strengthened And hope returned To a weary heart, Upon the silent flight Of eagle’s wings. Chris posts […]
Read full textIn the darkness and doubt, a prayer — Ana Gobledale, UK
Second Sunday of Easter (Sunday after Easter), Year C John 20:19-31 Eternal One, as we travel through life’s valleys, in the places of darkness, and despair, we know that you are with us. Even when life’s doubts assail us, we know that you still abide with us, watching over us. Strengthen our faith. Help us […]
Read full textThe desert is not alone — Angie Combs, Colorado USA
Sun light fades shadows blend united into layers Darkness shrouds The Night is not alone. Aged with patience Saguaro keeps watch his feathered guards at the helm ready The Crown is not alone Steady, enduring, branches like steel reach yearn cradle the stillness The Ironwood is not alone Vipers tucked in hiding coyote sings lullaby […]
Read full textEternal Journey — Chris Roe, UK
As the crimson flame of life Breaks slowly Above the horizon, The white, frosted meadows, With trees and hedgerows Of sculptured ice, Speak loudly Of your presence. Once more Upon this journey, As another day begins, Without effort Or intrusion, Through the peace And tranquillity Of your silent voice, The moment becomes eternal, And the […]
Read full textBy your side — Chris Roe, UK
By your side There is peace, A quiet place Of beauty and realisation, Where wisdom Seeks reason and understanding, Where myth is laid to rest By the reality of knowledge. By your side There is hope, That arrogance and greed Will not destroy, That selfless love Will prevail. By your side Life is sacred, A […]
Read full textHope Haiku — Loey Powell, USA
Hope when pressed to earth Will find nourishment and life In truths long buried.
Read full textOn waiting — T.S. Eliot
“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready […]
Read full textPrayer for quiet, laughter & connection — Thandiwe Dale-Ferguson, USA
Gracious God, Today we pray for a moment of quiet to catch our breath; to give thanks to you; to listen to the insects and the birds, to the cars and airplanes; to watch the breeze move gently in the leaves and the squirrels collect food for their winter store. Grant us quiet. Today we […]
Read full textPrayer for Oneness — Sonia Ross, USA
Dear God of all, grant us understanding of our brothers and sisters worldwide. Plant in us the seed of oneness. Nourish us with your love and grace so that we may live God-like in our interactions with those who are different from us. Grant us the ability to recognize the spirit and sameness that unites […]
Read full textHope, Luke 3:5-6 — Kay Lowe-Wendling, USA
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. — Luke 3: 5-6 Every valley shall be filled: may our low places, our wrong doings of the past, […]
Read full textWorn Spot – Steve Garnaas-Holmes, USA
There’s a dip in the stone step in the threshold of the old cathedral, worn where thousands of pilgrims have stepped as they entered the darkness to pray. Even in the old country church the railing is rubbed bare where the faithful have grasped, have leaned, have hoped. There is a worn spot at […]
Read full textPrayer response to natural disasters — Meighan Pritchard, USA
When the earth shakes, the lightning flashes, the tsunami rolls across the waters; when the snow whites out the roads, the floods wash out bridges and homes, the wildfires rage across the ridges; when the tornados race through town, the hurricanes churn up the coast, the heat waves wipe out crops— then, […]
Read full textHopi Prayer — Mary E. Frye
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning’s hush I am the swift uplifting […]
Read full textPrayer for peace, Order of St Luke — Australia
Dearest Friend, gentle Spirit, breath of live, source of our being, from the peacefulness of silence, the silence that preceded Creation, your Word entered the void and said, ‘Let there be light.’ This afternoon we sit mindful that we are kin and covenanted to that Word and to your light. We are grateful to you, […]
Read full textWe give our loved one back to God — Rossiter Worthington Raymond, USA
Appropriate for sharing at a funeral, crematorium service or at a memorial service We give our loved one back to God And just as God first gave them to us And did not lose them in the giving, So we have not lost them in returning them to God. For life […]
Read full textFrom Hopelessness to Hope, A Poetic Interpretation — Angie Combs, USA
Inside hopelessness darkness Nothing more, impossible to be less silence, deafening Only fears and despair Echoing off cavern walls I’ve been there, lived there Have you? A hole so deep, so cold No one to hear the screams Hopeless Alone Exhausted longer the stay deeper it becomes The darkness becomes thick Suffocating hopes Choking out […]
Read full textGod, I’m trying — Louise Gough, UK
God loves a try-er or so ‘they’ say. And God, you know that I’m trying. But somehow I never feel good enough. There’s always something just beyond my reach; something I can’t get right. And somehow I always seem to let me – and you – down. Living Spirit uplift me, I pray. Breathe a […]
Read full textPrayer — Farai Chirisa, Zimbabwe
God, we give you thanks for sending Jesus to give us life. In the midst of wealth we are crushed by poverty, and while we are offered Christ-life in all its fullness, we are surrounded by disease, death and destruction. We are tempted to despair, and yet keep hoping, knowing that you care. At times we […]
Read full textCan these bones live? Prayer for Lent 5 Year A — Ana Gobledale, UK
Ezekiel 37:1-14 Breathe on me, breath of God, till I am wholly thine, until this earthly part of me, glows with thy fire divine. Breath of Life, can these bones live? Valleys of dry bones confront us, threatening to separate us from you. Each day, our newspapers highlight the numerous and extensive dry-bone-valleys […]
Read full textStriving, a prayer for today — Lynne Roberts, Australia
Loving, embracing Spirit We strive and we fall often, straight into the safety net of your compassionate embrace. We pick ourselves up and try again, secure in the knowledge that you will always be there for us, and that we are so much more than our successes and failures. Help us to learn from our […]
Read full textI Dream a World — Langston Hughes, USA
Though the original words are exclusive, the sentiment is eternal. The bracketed phrases have been inserted to include everyone… I dream a world where [each person] No other [person] will scorn, Where love will bless the earth And peace its paths adorn I dream a world where all Will know sweet freedom’s way, Where greed […]
Read full textBeautiful Diversity, responsive reading — Ben Saunders, USA
Call and Response One: Humans of God’s creation, we are diverse. Many: We are beautiful. We are unique. We judge each other’s differences, yet our diversity is an illustration of the infinite mystery of God. All: The God in me sees the God in you. One: Humans of God’s creation, we are political. Many: We […]
Read full textJohn 1:5, Come, shine in the darkness — Cara Heafey, UK
God, you are not distant from us You came to us in vulnerability You offered yourself as a gift of love. We pray today for those who are in the midst of darkness The darkness of poverty The darkness of loneliness The darkness of grief The darkness of despair Wherever shadows threaten to overwhelm Wherever […]
Read full textSpring — Ross Kingham, Australia
Spring We should celebrate This wildest Erupting In Spring. With colours recklessly Splashed everywhere In this the season of new Daily episodes Of wonder And delight. Autumn is turned on its head: Not the richness the life’s ebbing, But buds bursting Hearts thirsting Green shoots on grey branches Marking Not the end, But a million […]
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