We gather here today in response to God’s love

that feeds our souls like a good meal with friends,  

filling our minds and hearts and senses

until our best selves overflow.

Despite the selfish demands and betrayals of love we have suffered.

Despite the impatient and half-hearted attempts at love we have offered.

Despite our flawed definitions and our misplaced affections,

We come.

 

We come because of all these things, believing

in a love that is bigger than us, and better;

that is offered to us as we are,

even as it is beyond our scope to comprehend as we are.

Lord help our unbelief.

 

We gather in love

and in need of God’s perfect love.

A love that has been through everything

and come out stronger.

A love that knows and accepts us so deeply

that the stranger no longer poses a threat.

A love to grow into.

The gentle touch of the sun on our upturned faces

Its soft warmth on our backs when it is no more

and no less than the light by which we see.

A faint trickle of water music

heard throughout life’s song-rich forest

telling us that wherever we go,

we will never go thirsty.

 

We are God’s people.

We light this candle as a sign of the love of God,

who comes to walk in our shoes

and make a home among us.

O come, Immanuel. 

 

 

Composed by and for the American Church in Paris community, the work of the people to the glory of God.