Solstice

On this rainy winter solstice evening we will gather on the front lawn of the church at 5 to remember those NH residents who were homeless who died during the past year.  At our gathering, we will read a prayer by the Rev. Ted Loder, which can be found below.

We do well to remember these people, our brothers and neighbors, especially as Christmas celebrations draw near; not all can make merry, not all have the ability to focus on the blessings of the season.  As we give and as we receive, let us remember those in need, and then let us do more than remember.  Let us act.

The Longest Night Prayer

The Rev. Ted Loder

O God of all seasons and senses,
grant us the sense of your timing
to submit gracefully and rejoice quietly in the turn of the seasons.

In this season of short days and long nights,
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of endings;
children growing, friends leaving, loved ones dying,
grieving over,
grudges over,
blaming over,
excuses over.

O God, grant us a sense of your timing.
In this season of short days and long nights,
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of beginnings;
that such waitings and endings may be the starting place,
a planting of seeds which bring to birth what is ready to be born—something right and just and different,
a new song, a deeper relationship, a fuller love—
in the fullness of your time.

O God, grant us the sense of your timing.