Benediction of Hope

I am the sound of hope.

I trade groans for cries of new life, 

birthed through pain into laughter and potential

I am the vista of hope.

I scope plains and mountain ranges, beaches and rivulets,

pouring forth the ancient and new movements of life in all its flourishing.

I am the horizon of hope.

I am distant and blurred, defined and edging rainbows,

inviting perspectives of optimism and faith.

I am the forest of hope.

I form community among the tall trees and leafy shrubs,

fruitful orchards and protective hedges,

God's gardeners, constantly preparing and pruning, feeding and fasting.

I am the breeze of hope.

I break the doldrums and recall the storms, hinting at the gentler breath of life 

that summons a sigh and stifles a yawn.

I allow the song to be sung and the notes to be heard.

I am the ocean of hope.

I arise from the deep, crying to Life itself,

turn the floods and rivers of blessing.

Transform the tsunami of destruction into the lapping waves of comfort.

I am the movement of hope.

I am the mission in the margins, embodying acts of love and healing.

I am the work of God in the world, sent to crawl, walk and dance

to the remote and inaccessible.

Pause

I am the stillness of hope.

I bear promise of kintsugi gold, holding together that which as been broken and restored.

I am the symbol of re-creation.

Pause

I am silence, filled with hope and longing...

(Each piece is brought forward)

We are the mosaic of hope.

We are the grand design, the bearers of good news, and signs of abundance.

We are the prophets of hope.

We call out to You, O God,

to bring about the rising to life.

We are the people of hope, responding to the Initiator of Hope,

the Bearer of Hope, the Spirit of Hope.

Bless us all to be hope in your world. Amen.