READ ECCLESIASTES 3:1-13.
Pray
A New Year Prayer, adapted from “A Night Prayer” in the New Zealand Prayer Book*, which we’ve been using this Fall — we’ve left some words out for you to adapt yourself!
Lord, it is a new year.
The new year is for ___________ (rest/activity/acceptance/renewal).
Let us __________ (grow/rejoice/be at peace) in God’s presence.
It is a new year after a long year.
Some awful things have happened;
We have all had to adjust our dreams;
Let us be.
The new year is __________ (quiet/blank/unsure/timid).
Let our fears of the world’s __________ (uncertainty/insecurity/change) and of
Our own lives rest in you.
The new year is __________ (free/unbounded).
Let the peace of your __________ (love/embrace) hold us,
Hold all those we love and miss,
and all those who have no __________ (knowledge/confidence).
The new year heralds __________ (transition/connection/opportunity).
Help us to expect good things.
New dreams.
Good __________ (days/weeks/months).
In your name we pray. Amen.
Bonus points: listen to “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by The Byrds.
* A New Zealand Prayer Book/He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa (The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, 1988), 184.
Words for Waiting 