A ‘With-Us’ God, beyond the safe place

Here’s a prayer taken from the Iona Abbey Worship Book (Wild Goose Publications, The Iona Community, Glasgow). It’s a wonderful reminder of the immanence of God: that we have a God who is not far removed, but One who is always with us. I love it also because it reminds us of how we need to work in partnership with God and be used by Him to transform the world around us, to go ‘beyond the safe place / Into action, into vulnerability’, for that is where we can truly see ‘the sun ris(ing) over the barbed wire’.

We believe that God is present
In the darkness before the dawn;
In the waiting and uncertainty
Where fear and courage join hands,
Conflict and caring link arms,
And the sun rises over the barbed wire.
We believe in a with-us God
Who sits down in our midst
To share our humanity.
We affirm a faith
That takes us beyond the safe place:
Into action, into vulnerability
And into the streets.
We commit ourselves to work for change
And put ourselves on the line;
To bear responsibility, take risks,
Live powerfully and face humiliation;
To stand with those on the edge;
To choose life
And be used by the Spirit
For God’s new community of hope.
Amen

~ by irwin on December 26, 2008.