Spirit of Life and Love,

Thank you for the peace of this night. We know that all around the world there are those who in this moment are not so blessed. Thank you for the joy pulsing in so many of our hearts on this holy night and may we be mindful of those who struggle through this time of year.

Thank you for drawing us together here, a religious community gathered in love, together rejoicing in the good times, and helping each other weather the difficult. Let us draw nearer each other, celebrating that which makes us alike, and witnessing the inner beauty that shines in each of us. May we see that it is the same inner beauty of the baby Jesus, and that all new babes share this beauty and innocence.

The babies born in all the yesterdays, today and all the days to come share that beauty and innocence. Every baby is precious, come unto us wrapped in a cloak of divine light. Our lives are intertwined with each small being born into the community of humankind, and we are responsible for their well-being.

In the velvet darkness of this holy night, help us recall that when we are in despair for all that is hard in this world, when desolation threatens to overtake us, a shimmering, bright star can stop us in our tracks, like a giggling baby pulls us into moments of grace.

That small being cannot yet form words, and yet, still speaks to our hearts so loudly that we extend our finger to make contact with a tiny, grasping, hand. Our gaze softens and we are reminded of that soft, tender spot within us.

Please, Spirit of Life and Love, call us to live our lives in honor of each precious infant born unto this world. May we each day freshly remember to meet them wherever we are with all the love and compassion we can muster.

We know that only we can show them by our actions the goodness and love in this world, the precious life of a frog and a hummingbird, a puppy and a hamster; the beauty of a gingko tree and a tangled manzanita bush; the vast ocean and the vast plains of the desert; and on and on. The babies learn from us.

Help us tend to our own souls so that we are prepared for this most holy work. Help us forgive those trespasses against us which we still hold on to, and may we be forgiven the trespasses we have committed. Help us be grateful for the grace in our lives, and give us strength to carry the burdens that sometimes come our way. Help us open our hearts as wide as we can manage, and through exercise, help our hearts continually open wider. When we are stressed and tired, may we remember that the babes amongst us are always learning from us, from what we say, what we don’t say, the way we act. All of us, parents or not, are caregivers: help us reach this understanding, deep in our bones, so that the children learn how to love and how to live with Holy grace.

We each have unique gifts to offer children; may we praise the gifts we see in others, and cultivate our own by sharing them. The children are our salvation; they will become those who stand against oppression, rise up against domination. They will be the next builders and iron-workers to bend the arc of justice toward freedom. And they will tend to the next generations of holy infants. They are the transformers of the world.

They are love’s pure light.

Alleluia. So may it be. — Patrice