Who shall we say that you are?
Quiet God,
Who comes in silence
Vulnerable God,
Who comes in frailty
Elusive God,
Wrapped in mystery
Who shall we say that you are?
We speak of you with many names,
Knowing that none will hold you.
Remind us, when we need reminding,
that our words, creeds and doctrines
cannot contain you.
You are bigger than religion
and beyond our imaginations.
Forgive us, gracious God,
for the divisions between us
and the harm we have done in your name.
Relieve us of the burdens
that you never asked us to carry:
The burden of being right,
The burden of being gatekeepers,
The burden of building and policing boundaries,
The burden of our illusions of control.
We give thanks for our diversity,
the richness of our own traditions
and the treasures we glimpse in others
Help us not to fear our differences
but to delight in them.
Remind us of what we hold in common…
that we are sinners:
vulnerable, broken and in need of grace,
that we are loved: bearers of your light,
that we are seekers: fellow travellers,
who have come by different roads
and for different reasons
and stumbled… haphazard by starlight…
into the realm of heaven.*
May we recognise your beautiful, shining image
in the faces of those who are different from us.
May we love one another, as you have loved us.
*adapted from a line from the poem, ‘BC:AD’, by U.A. Fanthorpe
