Praise be to you, O homeless God,
for every path is your dwelling;
in this universe you have fashioned
there is no place where you do not rest.
Praise be to you, whose place has been taken,
for you give your place to the poor.
To those who have no home
you grant a place in your heart.
Blessed are you, for you hold tenderly
those whom others scorn;
and those who are passed by without notice
you know by name.
Those who are without shelter
you hold in your heart,
you honor them whom we judge,
and you cherish their children.
For refugees and runaways
you are their only safety.
You accompany them faithfully;
and with them you search for belonging.
In your grace may all who are destitute
find mercy and courage;
may they know their belovedness,
and their belonging in this world.
We confess our kinship with them,
for we all rely on your mercy.
Our only home is in you,
and our only belonging is with each other.
O homeless God, you cry for justice,
that we may make this world a welcome home,
that we who find shelter in your grace
may make room for your beloved ones.
For it is you who seek a home among us
in our sisters and brothers, it is you.
It is our own wholeness that they seek,
that your human family may be one.
O unsheltered God, may the home that you find
be ours.
We open our hearts to you,
we open our laws and our powers to you.
Have mercy on us,
for our family is asunder;
we have cast out our sisters and brothers
and they want to come back home.
May we know your mercy
as those who rely on the mercy of others.
May we open ourselves to others
as you have to us.
Praise be to you, for your hospitality is deep,
for in you we are, all of us, home.
Praise! For by your grace we shall dwell
in the house of the Lord forever.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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