The retirement community in which we live had its annual Advent/Christmas Dinner Friday. Below is the Invocation/Blessing which I offered.

Generous and loving God, we gather amid the beauty, safety, and abundance of our Dayspring community to celebrate your coming into a world amid darkness, poverty, violence, and oppression.

• May our festive celebration be a reminder of the world-transforming message of Jesus’ birth.
• May the beauty of our surroundings open our eyes to your veiled beauty present even in the bleakness and darkness.
• In the lavishness of the food may we taste the extravagance of your grace revealed in the miracle at Bethlehem.
• May the warmth of our fellowship widen the circle of our love to include all your children, especially the lowly and vulnerable who were the first to humbly worshipped the newborn child.
• And may the joy we share in celebrating your birth overflow and sustain us in times of grief, frailty, and loneliness, as it inspired the shepherds to sing “Glory to God in the highest!”
• And may our gratitude for this meal result in our living generously, compassionately, and justly as did Jesus whose birth we celebrate; and in whose name we pray. Amen