Iona

Let your word be as fire to my heart,

Fire to my bones.

Let your word rinse clean my soul

And restore my spirit,

Give wings to my breath

And iron to my will.

Let my feeble lips proclaim it

And my feeble fingers write it.

Let it burn through the world a restoring flame,

Till all creation is renewed.

For the light shines in the darkness

And the darkness has not overcome it.

It shines still.

Cowardice and ignorance,

The preference for the easy way,

Have not overcome it. 

It shines still.

Murder and cruelty,

Pillage and ferocity

The careless violence of violent men,

Blood shed upon blood

Have not overcome it.

It shines still.

The seduction of plenty,

The greed of our fear,

The applause of men

And the lure of cheap power

Have not overcome it.

It shines still.

And the prayers of the ages are a river of deep grace.

They did not come walking on water.

They came as men come

In a coracle, a boat:

Riding the waves into history.

Flesh and blood, flesh and blood,

And lamps for God to burn in,

Carrying, in their smallness,

The weight of all the Word.

They came in sorrow and penitence

And found work that was worthy of their hands.

They came in long self-doubting

And built in solid rock.

They came through storm and passion

And brought eternal peace.

Let us be as they were,

Quivering with truth

Alight with love

Welded to Christ by fire

In a bond that cannot be broken.

Let us be as they were

The dead reborn alive

Seeking no kingdom of our own

In love with our King forever.

Let us be as they were

Holding no weapons in our hands

Learning to be crucified

In little daily things

So that we might love forever.

Let us enter the furnace of God’s love.