Wednesday 12 December 2007

Maori song of longing for light in the darkness

Our annual advent service this evening began in almost complete darkness with one of our colleagues singing a haunting Maori song. As the lights went out so silence fell and the song began our evening meditation. There were brief readings and testimonies in languages from Arabic to Samoan and we spoke out for hope, ending with these very powerful words from Reinhold Niebuhr
"Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness."

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