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MEDITATION:

Written by Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), an English poet and cultural critic. This is an excerpt from his work “The Buried Life.”

But often, in the world’s most crowded streets
But often, in the din of strife
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life:
A thirst to spend our fire and restless force
In tracking out our true, original course;
A longing to inquire
Into the mystery of this heart which beats
So wild, so deep in us—to know
Whence our lives come and where they go.

PRAYER:

Written by the Rev. Michaela Youngson, a Methodist minister from London. She is a poet, author, and broadcaster.

Merciful Father, you have not stood aloof from our joys and sorrows, but, in your Son Jesus Christ, you have entered into our happiness and our sadness. Teach us that it is by involving ourselves in all that enriches human life that true meaning is to be found, and that it is by keeping ourselves from all that debases human life that true joy is to be experienced. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.