Collect For Christmas 1 – New Year’s Day
Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share in our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Micah 6:8 What God Requires
What does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, love mercy,
and walk humbly with your God?
This year’s Scripture card is taken from Micah 6:8. You will find a .pdf of the card as an accompanying attachment, for you to print as many copies as you would like – for yourself and others.
Click the image to print it and pin it up where you will see it each day, as a remembrance of the task (simple and straightforward, but very difficult to achieve in practice) that our God requires of us.
And here are a few dictionary definitions and quotes to think about:
Justice: fairness in the way people are dealt with.
Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.
Benjamin Franklin.
If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected–those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most–and listens to their testimony.
James Baldwin
A Thought: If people think about the word ‘justice’, they would tend to consider their nation’s law or constitution as the fundamental arbiter. This is essentially humanistic, given that such law is based upon the deliberations of government or imposed by ‘dictatorship’; it is also usually extremely complicated, needing legions of learned (and expensive) lawyers to decide on ‘right’ or ‘wrong’; perhaps worse, it is open to political interpretation and corruption. There can only be one basis for legal justice to be defined. You’ll find it in Matthew 22, verses 37-40.
Mercy: the quality of being friendly, generous, considerate, kind, selfless, compassionate, and forgiving; its greatest power revealed in practice to our enemies and amongst the least of these.
“Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
Mark Twain
“The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
William Shakespeare
Another thought: Some Bible translations use the word ‘kindness’ rather than the word ‘mercy’ in Micah 6:8. This isn’t necessarily wrong – but I don’t think it goes far enough. While kindness is certainly an attribute of mercy, I think ‘forgiveness’ is an even more important facet. It’s easy to be kind to someone you love – but mercy makes demands over the way we deal with those who we do not love.
Humility: the quality or condition of being humble, having a modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance.
True humility Is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.
C.S. Lewis
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble
When you’re perfect in every way
I can’t wait to look in the mirror
‘Cause I get better lookin’ each day
Willie Nelson
And yet another thought: So essentially, if you think you’re humble, you aren’t. You can only, therefore, be humble if you don’t think you are. If you’re struggling with this apparent paradox, you’re not the only one – join the queue alongside Paul of Tarsus…
And never mind worrying whether you are or aren’t. Just be it.
Praying Together 6th April 2025
Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, ‘Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.
Praying Together 16 March 2025
Unlike the other tragic heroes, Jesus has no flaw or blemish other than those inflicted by others: the scars on His back, the thorn-blood on His forehead, the betrayal by His friend.
Praying Together 23 February 2025
Meditation for the Second Sunday before Lent CollectAlmighty God,you have created the heavens and the earthand made us in your own image:Teach us to discern your hand in all your worksand your likeness in all your children;through Jesus Christ our Lord,who with you...
Praying Together 2nd February 2025
We are all called to be the Body of Christ in His entirety – and we are to take the example of all ‘Saints’ who have gone before, both male and female, as models of our required behaviour.
Praying Together 30th March 2025
As Julian of Norwich wrote, ‘the example of a mother’s service is closest, most willing, and most sure because it is most true’, and thus we use that example as part of our Lenten journey.
Praying Together March 9th 2025
God’s demand for perfection need not discourage you in the least in your present attempts to be good, or even in your present failures.
Praying Together 16th February 2025
And if you accept Him as Lord, allow Him to lead you as you walk into the future without looking back, and do what He has equipped you to do as His body on earth
Praying Together 26th January 2025
Most importantly, in the face of what appears to be a society built upon prejudice and hatred, we are sustained and strengthened by the knowledge that in the end, love will triumph, leaving the wordly values of the tyrant to be forgotten.
Praying Together 23rd March 2025
God gives us the freedom to make that choice, and will always offer us another chance when we fail, as He did to the barren fig tree.
Praying Together 2nd March 2025
God of the nations, whose sovereign rule brings justice and peace, have mercy on our broken and divided world.
Praying Together 9th February 2025
We are all asked to have the faith to put out into deep water, but we must remember that we will never be on our own. Peter’s ministry was made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, as will ours.
Praying Together 19th January 2025
Jesus has demonstrated His authority and power. He takes something ordinary, and it becomes extraordinary. He turns water to wine. He heals the past and offers a new future. He changes his followers from sinner to saint.