The hymn declares, “All beautiful the march of days/ As seasons come and go/ The Hand that shaped the rose hath wrought/ The crystal of the snow.” Snow we won’t see, we trust, but a seasonal change we certainly are seeing, although not much, and a new year as well. In all the events of our days and years and decades, God goes with us each step of the way. On this particular day we join together to go with God. Therefore let us, with the confident hopes and aspirations of another good new year, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
We bow before Thee in both gratitude and amazement, O God. We are grateful for all Thy blessings to us during the past year, those which are obvious to us and those which are more subtle. We thank Thee too for the assurance we have of continued blessings, knowing that Thy will for all of us is only for good. We also are amazed when we consider how many calamities might have befallen us in the year just ended, but which did not afflict us. Our lives are very fragile and astonishingly strong, both at the same time. Help us to live in constant gratitude for the good which washed over us and the bad which did not. Give us equanimity of mind and spirit, so that we may more happily and fruitfully live with whatever amount of time we may have in this world.
We turn to Thee particularly at this time, asking for a special measure of Thy blessing and Thy guidance. A major military decision has been taken which may prompt yet another war by our nation against yet another nation led by self-proclaimed Islamists who have governed their formerly moderate Muslim nation for forty years. Lord God, so many political leaders have what they believe are such good intentions, and their supposedly good intentions can lead to such bad outcomes. May advisers to all world leaders grant them calmer heads for these now more tense times. We pray especially for those who advise the President of the United States and the Iranian Ayatollah Khameini. Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.
We remember the few we know and the many millions we don’t know who come into the new year fearful or in pain or with little or no hope. Uphold the sick, the poor, the forgotten, the unemployed, the unemployable, and the reclusive. We ask Thee to make us a nation which collectively illustrates more concern for such people, and which transforms thoughtful talk about assisting such people into actual deeds and programs which provide such assistance. Make each of us into better instruments to do Thy will for Thy needy children around us and around the world. These things we pray in Jesus’ name. Now as he taught his disciples, we also pray together, saying, Our Father….