Prayer for the Baptizer

John said,
"Be aware that God knows our hearts;
Understand that God discerns
The distance between us and Him.
Be aware that the world that God created,
The home in which God placed us,
Has been polluted by our actions and our sins.
Make no mistake:
We are in need of repentance and reconcilation."

And Jesus said,
"But also be aware that the movement of return has begun,
The turning of our hearts to Him.
For God has sent the son and the gift of His spirit
So that the homecoming has begun,
And just as those shepherds in the Judean hills
Fearfully awaited wolves and bears and other predators
And found, instead, the coming of their Messiah
In a rustic stable carved from a cave,
We, too, watch for dangers to come
With the hope and promise of His return,
The good shepherd."

We see dimly the distance that we have worked
Between ourselves and our parent;
We pray for forgiveness
And wait for the spirit to work our repentance,
That we might return, as His children, to our Father.

We celebrate the son,
Who, in the darkness of a Winter's night,
Put a human face on the stars' creator,
Brought us hope and light
And worked a sure reconciliation between us
And our Father.