William Blake, from On the morning of Christ's nativity
Opening prayer
Bless to me, O God, The earth beneath my foot, Bless to me, O God, The path whereon I go.Garmina Gadelica
The story continues…
He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. It's exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home. (Luke 1:51-56)
Silence and Imaginative exercise
This is Boys Own material, the stuff of epics, of Ben-Hur, Robin Hood and the like. Caring and powerful, an image of God that is a heady cocktail. Is my image of God a little lean, pale or perhaps thin?
Closing Blessing
Be a bright flame before me, Be a guiding star above me, Be a smooth path below me, And be a kindly shepherd behind me, To-day, to-night, and for ever. Garmina Gadelica