Precious and cherished – try saying that ten times fast.

I led the worship service at St Peters on Sunday. It was a combined, all age service, meaning the whole church family was together for the whole service. That’s my favourite kind of service. It’s always a challenge, but I think its part of the challenge of being the church, living alongside one another, and learning to encounter God in the midst of unlikely fellow-pilgrims.

I’ve been reading a lot of Hairy McLary to my two year old Sam. Our favourite is ‘Rumpus at the Vets’ which he can nearly recite off by heart. So when I came to write an opening prayer, it came out all rhyming like, without much effort. I wanted to let the ordinary and the mundane stuff of life live alongside the holy, spiritual parts. I wanted to write something that acknowledged the breadth of the family of God, and the depth of who we are, and how God meets us wherever we are. As Karl Barth (sort of) said, ‘We can never fall further than God will stoop to reach us. So what is it to fall?’

Some of us will fidget
Some of us will fret
Some will do that walk
Which means our nappy is quite wet

Some of us are dead bored
Some of us are bone tired
Some of us aren’t sure what we feel
When we look inside

But all of us are precious
All of us belong
Each one of us is cherished
By our God whose love is strong

Some of us are beaten
Some of us are proud
Some of us are wondering 
If the music will be loud

Some dream of the future
Some long for the past
Some hope to see tomorrow
Some wish this day were their last

But all of us are precious
All of us belong
Each one of us is cherished
By our God whose love is strong

Some of us feel welcome
Some of us feel lost
Some have clean forgotten
That God loves no matter the cost

For all of us are precious
All of us belong
Each one of us is cherished
By our God whose love is strong.