The Quiet Heart in Midwinter

God of many names,

and mystery beyond all our naming,

 

In this deep season of midwinter,

persist in guiding us

toward the quiet measure of this moment.

 

As the earth rests beneath cold skies,

as light returns slowly and without display,

draw us into stillness,

that we might link heart to heart

in calm and attentiveness.

 

Help us, for a while,

to lay down our scurrying and fury,

our rush, our judgements, our contempt,

and come instead to the shore

of this quiet moment.

 

We who gather today

come from many corners of the land,

and many inner landscapes besides.

 

We join now in breath over breath,

that we might hold the suffering

and care for the mourning,

that we might sit beside the weary,

and celebrate with those whose joy still rises.

 

Today we pray for those among us who struggle,

in body, in spirit, in hope.

And we give thanks for those who find themselves, today,

with enough strength and generosity

to carry others.

 

We hold in this quiet heart

all who are known and unknown,

present and absent,

remembered and forgotten.

 

We pray in the names of all

who labour for healing,

who shelter the vulnerable,

who choose compassion over fear,

and light over despair.

 

May this midwinter stillness

become courage within us.

May this quiet heart

become a place where love gathers strength.... Amen.