OPENING PRAYERS
VI The Future God, we thank You for Your gift of hope, our strength in times of trouble. Beyond the injustice of our time, its cruelty and its wars, we look forward to a world at peace when people deal kindly with each other, and no one is afraid. Every bad deed delays its coming, every good one brings it nearer. May our lives be Your witness, so that future generations bless us. May the day come, as the prophet taught, when ‘the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings’. 1 Help us to pray for it, to wait for it, to work for it and to be worthy of it. Blessed are You God, the Hope of Israel. VII The Covenants of God May we ever be true to Your teaching. You made a covenant with Abraham, to teach us that You can be found through many religious paths. May we ever be true to Your teaching. You made a covenant with Israel, to teach us that every people has a special task in this world. May we ever be true to Your teaching. You made a covenant with David, to teach us that everyone can err and fail yet still return to You again. May we ever be true to Your teaching. May we be true in our time and place to these covenants of duty and of love. VIII Our Heritage Once, long ago, You came to us in dreams, connecting heaven and earth. You revealed yourself in visions, making wisdom our desire. You showed us Your ways, gave us a purpose for our days. Israel’s destiny was assured. Your poets sang of Your glory, rejoicing the heart. Your prophets rebuked and cajoled, restoring hope in troubled times, teaching honesty for all generations. Your rabbis enlightened our eyes, delighting in life, every moment a blessing. Your mystics enlivened our souls, sparking knowledge of You in the depths of our being. All this You have done, and more besides. Gratitude is Your due and in You our faith resides. We hold in trust our sacred task. At this moment, in the quietness of this hour, we realise all we have lost and all we could still regain. Together may we put our hope in You. ‘Renew our days, as of old’. Our God and God of all who live, You made a covenant with Noah, to teach us to cherish the earth on which we live.
1 Mal 3:20.
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