WordsOut poems by Godfrey Rust  | sequence Prayers of hope ← 2 of 4 → | home       I 

shepherds

For this news
that we are not alone
and we are not forgotten
we give thanks.

Grant us a shepherd’s hope—
heaven breaking through
when least expected
into our ordinary lives.

For those we know
watching others under their care
and in need of joy
we pray tonight.

For those we do not know
who do not know
how close heaven is
we pray tonight.

Written to follow the reading of Luke 2, 8-20 in a series of visual "prayers of hope" in the carol service at St Johns, West Ealing in 2011, accompanied by visual images.