A Psalm for a New Year

image courtesy of Yahoo

Last night we went out to Elk Island National Park for New Year's Eve, and as I stood in the snow looking up at some pretty spectacular Aurora Borealis flaming across the sky, a psalm started forming in my heart.

In the tradition of Edward Hays, one of my favourite authors, I offer it to you as a prayerful start to 2016.

Happy New Year!


A New Year's Psalm

We praise you, O God,
for new beginnings --
fresh footprintless fields with unplanned paths,
clear calendars and unwritten words,
unperceived passages and paths that we will discover in the year ahead.

We thank you for the year that has passed
with its many challenges, loves and losses,
its ups and downs.
We offer you our joys and sorrows from the last twelve months
and ask that you bless us and heal us as needed.

We invite you to become our home
in the twelve months ahead,
to be our refuge, joy and strength
in all the twists and turns of life that we cannot foresee.

In the days to come,
bring your justice and peace into our world through our actions.
Make us mindful of the difference we can make.
Help us to love as you love, without reserve.
Please be gracious to us and bless us
so that we may also bless those you send into our lives,
especially those most in need of blessing.
Make our hearts like yours in the year ahead, O Lover of all,
and bless your world with the kind of peace that is found in love.

We exult and rejoice in your presence with us
and trust in your goodness to us.
Let your face shine on us and on all of your creation in this New Year,
for you are our courage and our hope.

From the rising of the sun to its setting
and all the moments in between
we praise you,
God of life.

+Amen.