Poem: "O Living God," by Edwina Gateley

O living God, soften us!
Let the fire of your love
thaw the frost within us.
Let the light of your justice
sear away our blindness.
Let the grace of your compassion
heal our hardened spirits.

O living God, soften us!
That, flowing with Your grace,
we be impelled to face the world
in bold compassion,
that, driven to justice,
we may dare to cry aloud
for the little ones,
the raped, the beaten,
the imprisoned, and the hungry.

O living God, soften us!
Sweep us forward
in a Mighty Wave of Mercy
to heal our darkened world.