I planned our Blue Advent service for Epiphany this year. After the bulletins went to print we learned of the shooting in Newtown. It was immediately apparent that we needed to add an element to the service for them. I was hoping that Maya Angelou would do me a solid and write a poem in a timely manner… that was not the case. Here is what I came up with after hours of prayer, tears, and hope.

We Are Called – A Meditation for Newtown 

We are called
here tonight
to be witnesses in the darkness.
We are called
to give our pain, our joy, our sadness,
our laughter, and our agony
to the same One
for whom we wait.
We are called
to see the Christ child
in all twenty-eight
children of God
rushed from this earth
in a chaotic blare.
We are called
to see the Christ child
in every tear that is shed
in every corner of this world.
We are called
to see the Christ child
in every act of love and bravery.
We are called
to view this, and all tragedies
through the eyes of the One
who made us.
We are called
to be stronger than the individual
and to unite as one –
one body in Christ –
one hope, one faith, one baptism –
One God, who is Mother and Father to us all.
We are called
to invite you into our darkness.
and tonight, O God,
We call out to you.
We are broken and tired,
and we feel so alone.
And right now, dear Lord,
if only for a moment,
we need to call out to you,
before answering our call.
We are called
to be witnesses of your love.
We are called
to shake off this darkness
with incarnational light.
We are called
to be witnesses in this season
of resurrection’s might.
But for now,
As we begin the long walk
to Bethlehem,
we pray for you to
send your Holy Spirit to
sing into our darkness
and to comfort our hearts,
Because, dear Lord,
we are called.