
Prayer-Hymn
Let us pray,
Mothering God, you gave us birth in the bright morning of this world.
Creator, source of every breath, you are our rain, our wind, our sunMothering Christ, you took our form, offering us your food of light,
Grain of life, and grape of love, your very body for our peace.Mothering Spirit, nurt’ring one, in arms of patience hold us close,
So that in faith we root and grow until we flow’r, until we know. Amen.
Poem: Long and gentle path – Unfolding Light
Violence is quick; healing is slow.
Ask the bone, the tree, the heart.
Love takes time.
We crave instant success
not for love of the present moment
but fear of it:
we want to move on.
But our sudden outbursts
of self-assertion will expire;
God will remain.
God prays for you
for ten thousand years
before you are born.
Don’t be fooled by the Instant Way.
Nothing good happens there.
Love outlasts its little deaths.
Commit yourself to the long and gentle path.
Yes, evil ones may undo you in a moment—
this is the truth of the cross.
But God has been preparing your resurrection
since the beginning of time,
and even now it ripens, and is ready.