Open the heavens and come down, O God of peace.

Bring Your peace so near we can feel it

like floating weightless,

effortlessly buoyed by still waters.

We have seen glimpses of Your peace

when we reach the point in our quarrels

where we can remember again that we’re on the same side.

When we can admit our faults and hug it out,

we know Your presence.

Teach us to be still before You and with You

in every situation—even the least serene.

We have heard Your promises:

That you offer respite from our burdens

and that Your peace prevails in chaos and uncertainty.

Every person will be valued as the work of Your hand.

Wars will cease.

Anxiety will no longer consume our thoughts and bodies.

Jesus, Prince of Peace, violence wastes our lands

and precious lives, and no end is in sight.

Give us peace with justice and imagination

for a world beyond tooth and nail and suppressed hostilities.

Anoint us with Your Spirit so we may be

makers of a peace on earth that begins with You, not us.

Re-create us as we rest in You

beneath starry skies.

We are God’s people.

We light this candle as a sign of God’s peace,

that bids us lay our grievances down

and quiet our sharp tongues and elbows

to trust a Savior so right and reliable

we have no need to jostle for power.

O come, Immanuel.

This year’s liturgies written with collaborative input from parishioners of Bethany Presbyterian, Seattle

Open the heavens and come down, O God of joy.

Bring Your joy so near we can taste it—

like eating French fries!

in Mexico!

on Christmas!

We have seen glimpses of Your joy

not only when we visit our favorite places and people

but in some wildly unexpected places and people as well.

Whenever a child is born to us,

we know Your presence.

Where our pleasures now are partial and fleeting,

give us energy to keep up with a joy that endures.

We have heard Your promises:

that You came to bring the great joy of reconciliation

to absolutely everyone

and that none of our faults can separate us from God.

When we bring you our grief, you collect our tears

to water orchards producing perfect fruit.

Forgiveness flowers wherever You walk.

Jesus, You come to make our joy chock-full,

complete, whole, limit-bursting, and exuberant.

Enlarge our capacity for unbounded delight

in Your world and in each other.

Anoint us with your dancing Spirit

to bring good news of your continued favor

to everyone muddling through the rough places.

Reconnect us to the Source of all joy.

We are God’s people.

We light this candle as a sign of God’s joy,

that calls us out of our corners to play along,

harmonizing with an ecstatic angel chorus

jamming to the music of the spheres.

O come, Immanuel.

This year’s liturgies composed with contributions from the wreath-lighters of Bethany Presbyterian, Seattle. There may or may not have been a five-year-old involved this week.