In January’s Sounds of Iona, Ruth Harvey shares her highlights from 2024 and Christmas wishes for peace.
‘How do you find hope in a disintegrating world?’ Possibly one of the single most significant questions for our time, this was posed to a friend of the Iona Community, Cath Connelly in a workshop. Cath went on, as a result, to write ‘Handbook of Hope: emerging stories beyond a disintegrating world’ weaving stories of hopeful communities from around the globe into an analysis of the fracture of our world. As we come towards the close of 2 close024, and year one of our five year strategic plan titled: Rooted in Hope – lived in community‘, this remains a striking question to ponder.
Where have you found hope in the midst of so much pain and fracture in 2024? Mary’s song of praise in the Magnificat (Luke 1: 46-55) is a song of hope: a call to action even in the most uncertain times. As we turn to 2025 and to the times of uncertainty ahead, my prayer is that we will find solidarity, peace and hope in each tiny action we take, in community, for justice and love.
Looking back, I give thanks for all that has been in 2024. Highlights of this year include include gathering in Community in Erfurt and Edinburgh; getting to know the remarkable bunch of New Members who are joining our Community in the next years; walking in pilgrimage with our Young Adults Group through the lowlands of Scotland, praying in church halls and community hostels; listening to Anglican ordinands near Oxford talking of their sense of call in the midst of so much uncertainty in our churches. I wonder what your highlights are of 2024?
In all of this, my heartfelt thanks to you for supporting the work of God’s Kingdom through the witness of the Iona Community. And my humble thanks and awe to our Trustees and Committee members for steering our strategy; and to my faithful colleagues for steering the day-to-day work of this Community, while keeping the vision alive.
However your year has been, may I wish you peace and joy for this Christmas season and beyond, as we rejoice in the birth of the Prince of Peace.
God of peace,
we come before You tired and weary.
Worn out maybe from tough tasks;
weary perhaps from a short night of rest,
fragile as dew on a blade of grass.
Yet You set before us a fresh morning,
a window of opportunity, an offer of a new start.
For this we praise You.
God of peace,
we come before You doubting and confused,
senses dulled by relentless worry, minds restless with niggles and cares,
fragile as frost on a winter’s morning.
Yet You set before us an anchor of openness,
the wide arms of questions and acceptance
that know nothing of right or wrong.
For this we praise You.
God of peace,
we come before You often judging,
living on the breath of assumptions,
fragile as a half-heard whisper.
Yet You draw us in to Your unconditional love,
embracing us in our diversity and uniqueness.
For this we praise You.
God of peace,
forgive us our fickleness,
release us from our inner critic,
lead us gently by Your living, constant flame
to the glory of Your love and peace in which we are
welcomed, renewed, made whole.
This we ask in the name of Jesus,
Prince of Peace, Amen.
Photo: Young Adult Pilgrimage. Credit: Jack Woodruff
USA North East