Gender Craziness

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I guess I am about to wade knee-deep into controversy, but this article highlights beautifully the bizarre mess of the current gender change fad:

Matilda Simon, the 3rd Baron of Wythenshawe, is tipped to stand in a by-election to replace the Liberal Democrat Viscount Falkland, voted on by all sitting peers, with entries closing on May 15.

If successful, they would become the only woman, self-identified, among the chamber’s 92 hereditary peers, despite holding a title because they were born a man

I am basically with Jordan Peterson on this:

While I reject any legislative or other attempt to compel me to use terminology contrary to a person’s biological sex, usually I will, out of politeness, voluntarily address a person by the name and the gender pronouns (masculine/feminine) the person prefers. I will not, however, use any pronouns which imply the existence of more than two genders or the absence of gender.

Particularly I find the abuse of the plural “they” to refer to a singular person an intentional and ridiculous degeneration of the English language

  • If one accepted gender change as real, one should refer to this person as “she”;
  • If, on the other hand, one rejected gender change as real, one should refer to this person as “he”.

Beyond this grammatical travesty I agree with the women criticizing this person:

  • If she is a woman she should not attempt to claim a position reserved for men;
  • If he wants to claim that position he should stop claiming to be a woman.

In any case, s/he should not appempt to have his/her cake and eat it, claiming a trans privilege over biological women.

 

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Mario de Andrade über das Altern

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Ich habe das auf Facebook gefunden:

Berührende Gedanken des brasilianischen Poeten, Romanciers, Musikwissenschaftlers, Kunstgeschichtlers, Kritikers, und Fotografen Mário Raul de Morais Andrade (1893-1945):

„Ich habe meine Jahre gezählt und festgestellt, daß ich weniger Zeit noch zu leben habe, als ich schon gelebt habe. Ich fühle mich wie ein Kind, das eine Packung Bonbons gewonnen hat: zuerst hat es mit Vergnügen gegessen, als es aber sah, daß nur mehr wenige Bonbons übrig waren, wurde der Genuß viel intensiver.

Ich habe keine Zeit mehr für endlose Sitzungen, wo Vorschriften, Regeln, Prozeduren usw diskutiert werden, wo aber jeder weiß, daß dabei nichts Nützliches herauskommt.

Ich habe keine Zeit mehr, jene absurden Leute zu unterstützen, die trotz ihres chronologischen Alters nie erwachsen geworden sind.

Meine Zeit ist zu kurz
Ich will das Essentielle,
meine Seele ist in Eile.
Ich habe nicht mehr viele Bonbons
in der Packung.

Ich möchte neben  Menschen leben,
sehr menschlichen Menschen,
die über ihre Fehler lachen können,
die ihr Erfolg nicht aufgeblasen macht,
und die ihre Verantwortung wahrnehmen.
So wird die Menschenwürde verteidigt,und wir bewegen uns in Richtung Wahrheit und Ehrlichkeit.
Das ist das Essentielle, wodurch das Leben lebenswert wird.

Ich möchte mich mit Menschen umgeben, die Herzen berühren können, die durch die schwierigen Dinge im Leben gelernt haben, zu einer sanftmütigen Seele zu werden.
Ja, ich habe es eilig, ich habe es eilig, mit jener Intensität zu leben, die man nur durch Reife erlangt.
Ich möchte keines der übriggebliebenen Bonbons vergeuden.
Ich bin sicher, sie werden großartig schmecken, besser als Alles, was ich bisher gegessen habe.

Mein Ziel ist, zufrieden an meinem Lebensende anzukommen,
im Frieden mit meinen geliebten Menschen
und mit meinem Gewissen.

Wir haben zwei Leben.
Und das zweite beginnt, wenn Du erkennst, daß Du nur eines hast.”

HT: Alison Gilchrist

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Mário de Andrade on Ageing

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I found this on Facebook:

Some very poignant thoughts of Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, photographer Mário Raul de Morais Andrade (1893-1955):

“I counted my years and found that I have less time to live from here on than I have lived up to now.

I feel like that child who won a packet of sweets: he ate the first with pleasure, but when he realized that there were few left, he began to enjoy them intensely.

I no longer have time for endless meetings where statutes, rules, procedures and internal regulations are discussed, knowing that nothing will be achieved.

I no longer have time to support the absurd people who, despite their chronological age, haven’t grown up.

My time is too short:

I want the essence, my soul is in a hurry.

I don’t have many sweets in the package anymore.

I want to live next to human people,
very human,
who know how to laugh at their mistakes,
and who are not inflated by their triumphs,
and who take on their responsibilities.
Thus human dignity is defended and we move towards truth and honesty
It is the essential that makes life worth living.

I want to surround myself with people who know how to touch hearts, people who have been taught by the hard blows of life to grow with gentle touches of the soul.

Yes, I’m in a hurry, I’m in a hurry to live with the intensity that only maturity can give.
I don’t intend to waste any of the leftover sweets.
I am sure they will be delicious, much more than what I have eaten so far.

My goal is to reach the end satisfied
and at peace with my loved ones
and my conscience.

We have two lives.
And the second begins when you realize you only have one.”

HT: Alison Gilchrist

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Easter Anthems

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Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us observe the feast,
not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5.7b, 8

Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again.
Death no longer rules over him.
For the death he died,
he died to sin once for all time;
but the life he lives, he lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6.9-11

Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through a man,
the resurrection of the dead
also comes through a man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ all will be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15.20-2

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son 
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and  shall be forever:
Amen.

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In Memoriam George Verwer

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Wir haben soeben diese Nachricht von Lawrence Tong, dem internationalen Direktor von Operation Mobilisation, erhalten:

“In großer Trauer teile ich Euch mit, daß unser Bruder George Verwer (Gründer von Operation Mobilisation) uns gestern Abend, dem 14. April 2023 um 23:06, verlassen hat und in die Herrlichkeit eingegangen ist. Er ist friedlich gestorben, zu Hause, im Beisein seiner Frau Drena, seiner Tochter Christa, sowie einer Freundin der Familie, Cathy Rendal.” 

George hatte einen großen Einfluß auf mein Leben: durch die von ihm gegründete Organisation kam ich vor 52 Jahren zu einem lebendigen Glauben an Jesus Christus, und auch spätere, persönliche Begegnungen mit ihm waren sehr wichtig für mich.

Einerseits ist sein Heimgang ein Grund zur Freude, weil er, in den Worten des Apostels Paulus „den guten Kampf gekämpft, den Lauf vollendet, den Glauben gehalten hat; hinfort liegt für ihn bereit die Krone der Gerechtigkeit, die ihm der Herr, der gerechte Richter, an jenem Tag geben wird, nicht aber ihm allein, sondern auch allen, die Christi Erscheinung lieb haben.“ (2. Tim. 4,7) Er ist frei von dem Krebs, der ihm sein Leben in den letzten Monaten immer schwerer gemacht hat, und, um wieder mit dem Apostel Paulus zu sprechen, er hat „den Leib verlassen und ist daheim bei dem Herrn.“ (2.Kor. 5,8)

Aber gleichzeitig ist da große Trauer und die Erkenntnis, daß (für mich zumindest) eine Era zu Ende gegangen ist. In einer Zeit, wo allzu viele Christen und christlichen Leiter damit beschäftigt sind, ihre Rechte zu bewahren und die Welt durch politische Anstrengungen zu verändern (oder auch eine Veränderung zu verhindern), war George ein demütiger Diener Gottes, der nie seinen Auftrag aus den Augen verloren hat: Das Evangelium denen zu verkünden, die es noch nie gehört haben, und andere auszurüsten, dasselbe zu tun.

Todesanzeigen werden oft mit den Buchstaben “R. I. P.” überschrieben: „Requiescat in Pace, „Ruhe in Frieden.“ Für George Verwer, und  für alle Christen, die im Herrn entschlafen sind, stehen diese Buchstaben vielmehr für „Er ruht tatsächlich im Frieden, im Frieden Gottes!

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R. I. P. George Verwer

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R. I. P. George Verwer

This just in from Lawrence Tong, the international director of Operation Mobilisation:

“It is with great sadness that I share that our brother George Verwer (founder of Operation Mobilization) has left us for glory last night 14th April 2023 at 23:06 hrs. He died peacefully at his home with his wife Drena, daughter Christa and a good family friend Cathy Rendal by his side.”

George has been an important influence in my life: it was through the ministry he founded that 52 years ago I came to a personal faith in Christ, and later I had several personal encounters with him.

His passing is on the one hand grounds for rejoicing that he has, in the words of St. Paul, “fought the good fight, he has finished the race, he has kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for him the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to him but also to all who have loved Christ’s appearing.” (2 Tim 4:7, alt.). He is free from the cancer that increasingly plagued him the past few months, and, to echo St. Paul again, he is “absent from the body, and present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8).

But at the same time there is sadness, and the realization that (at least to me) this is the end of an era. At a time when so many Christians are preoccupied with their rights and their efforts to change the world (or to prevent change) George was a humble servant who remained focussed on the task of preaching the Gospel to those who have not yet heard it, and equipping others to do the same.

So the letters R. I. P. at the top of this post stand, not for “rest in peace“, but for “He does, indeed, rest in peace, the peace of God!”

Here is George’s final video blog where he talks about his legacy:

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ChatGPT, or The “world” is not the “Kingdom”

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Recently a Christian leader I respect and follow on Facebook commented,

Chat GPT is the most biased tool used to  propagate anti-christian worldview. Be careful. It rarely gets stuff correct, always adding a slight tint meant to demean Christianity.

That hasn’t been my experience. Of course ChatGPT is not a Christian tool and thus won’t give Christian answers, and of course it gets a lot of things wrong (not just about Christianity or the Bible), and of course, being a product of 21st century secular society it prioritizes “equality, inclusiveness, and diversity” over the free exchange of ideas and appends politically correct disclaimers to any potentially (politically or ideologically) controversial answer (after all, it doesn’t want to be cancelled), but so does just about any tool or platform which today’s secular world offers, whether Google, Bing, Wikipedia, and even Facebook where this brother posted his comment.

However, even if those assertions about ChatGPT were true, this comment seems to reflect an expectation that the world should cease to be the world and become more like the Kingdom of God, or that the world, as well as it’s institutions, tools, and laws, should conform to Bible-based Christian or Judeo-Christian values.

While this has for a long time been the expectation of many Christians in the United States and among Christian communities elsewhere influenced by American missionaries, it is an expectation that is foreign to most Christians outside the “Christian West” and to many within it.

I know many American Christians believe that the “Founding Fathers” had exactly that expectation in mind, but whether this is true or not, given Jesus’ words in Mt. 7:13+14, if you set up a society based on democracy (i.e. majority rule, with freedom of religion), the largely secular and non-Christian societies we have today in the US and in the West in general are exactly what we should expect: over time a majority of people choosing the wide gate, and building secular society in conformity with that path, regardless of the founders’ convictions or intentions.

This expectation and the belief in a “Christian society” which we have to somehow recover or restore leads to much frustration, with Christans spending much energy on turning society around through legislation, with all the attendant political belligerence and partisanship, instead of spending their energy on building a counter-cultural community that witnesses to Christ’s saving power, and which will have our unbelieving neighbors saying, “Look how they love one another! Can I be a part of that?” (Jn 13:34+35)

Mind you, I am not advocating that we withdraw from the world (á la the “Benedict Option[1]), or abdicate our responsibility as citizens of a democracy to speak truth to power and influence the world through the political process; but we do so primarily as individual citizens rather than as the church, and we follow the rules of the “game” and accept results which don’t go our way.[2] Most of all we don’t pin our hope on our political efforts and get too emotionally invested in them[3] for if we do, not only will we be disappointed but the world will perceive us as bellicose and belligerent political combatants rather than as loving witnesses to the Kindom of God.[4]

This Kingdom of God will not be fully realized until Christ returns; and we cannot hasten its realization “by might and by power” (Zech. 4:6) or by electing the right politicians.[5]

__________
  1. or at least, as the Benedict Option is often construed and understood[]
  2. And we don’t argue for our positions primarily by pointing to the Bible but by arguments which appeal to those who don’t see the Bible as an authority[]
  3. for example, to eliminate discrimination against Christian positions, as if we could somehow work our way around Jesus’ assertion that “in the world you will have tribulation” Jn 16:33[]
  4. When we publicly rail against laws that contravene our values, in ways that paint our opponents as immoral wr are actually trying to “convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment” (Jn 16:8), and that is not our job but the Holy Spirit’s. He is much better at it than we can ever be.[]
  5. Psalm 146:3 says, “Put not your trust in princes (or presidents, or governors, or Supreme Court justices), in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs (or he loses his re-election bid), he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.[]
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Medienvielfalt?

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Angesichts von Einsparungen, die durch die aktuelle Kostenexplosion notwendig seien, klagt Kurier-Geschäftsführer Thomas Kralinger unter anderem über die Konkurrenz durch text-basierte Angebote des ORF[1] und ruft nach Beschränkungen derselben.

Ich bin da anderer Meinung.

Mir ist klar, daß eine möglichst große Medienvielfalt generell für gut und wünschenswert gehalten wird, aber was tragen Printmedien wie Heute, Österreich/Ö24, Kronenzeitung, Kurier, Die Ganze Woche, usw, tatsächlich zum Funktionieren unserer Demokratie bei?

Dem wirtschaftlichen Überleben von in Privatbesitz befindlichen Printmedien steht das Recht der Bevölkerung auf unabhängige, möglichst objektive Nachrichtenversorgung ohne Zusatzkosten gegenüber, vor allem, wenn demächst eine Haushaltsabgabe[2] von allen Haushalten eingehoben werden wird.

Ein ORF,

  • der zu fairer und faktenbasierter Berichterstattung verpflichtet ist, die auch einklagbar sein müßte,
  • der von der gesamten Bevölkerung durch die Haushaltsabgabe finanziert wird[3], und
  • dessen Kontollgremien selbstverständlich von der jeweiligen Regierung möglichst unabhängig sein müßten,

sollte Vorrang haben vor einer Vielfalt von Printmedien, die unterschiedliche kommerzielle, politische, und weltanschauliche Interessen vertreten, ohne diese offen zu deklarieren.

Medienvielfalt ist gut und wünschenswert, wenn sie ein staatlich nicht eingeschränkter Markt hervorbringt und finanziell trägt, aber ich bitte folgendes zu bedenken:

Viel Nutzer von ORF Online würden sich bei Fehlen desselben trotzdem keine gedruckte Tageszeitung oder kostenpflichtiges Digitalabo leisten[4]; wir befriedigen unser Nachrichten-Bedürfnis durch die Rundfunkangebote von ORF und Co;

  • Österreich hat europaweit die höchste Medienkonzentration – der Kurier hat eine Reichweite von lediglich 8%, sein wichtigster Konkurrent, und der aller anderen Printmedien in Österreich, ist nicht der angeblich übermächtige ORF, sondern die Kronenzeitung mit einer Reichweite von 32%. Alle Maßnahmen, die sich Herr Kralinger für den Kurier wünscht, kämen natürlich auch der Kronenzeitung zugute; und
  • meiner Meinung nach werden Medien, die nur dank staatlicher Förderungen und Maßnahmen wie der Einschränkung anderer Medien überleben können, und die nicht durch gesetzliche Vorgaben zur Unabhängigkeit und Objektivität verpflichtet sind, früher oder später zu Sprachrohren der jeweiligen Regierung.
__________
  1. Vermutlich hat er da eher das Portal ORF Online im Blick, als den immer noch dahindümpelten ORF Teletext oder auch die ORF Nachlese.[]
  2. Die Haushaltsabgabe ist letztlich eine neue Steuer, auch wenn krampfhaft versucht wird, sie aus politischen Gründen nicht so zu nennen[]
  3. Alle, die diese Haushaltsabgabe zahken, werden letztlich zu ORF-Abonnenten (de facto wenn auch nicht de jure) []
  4. Full Disclosure: Ich leiste mir ein Abo von Readly um rund €10/Monat, sowie ein kostenloses Abo von read-it (beide auch mit Apps für Android und iOS), allerdings nicht wegen der enthaltenen Tageszeitungen, sondern wegen Fach- und Spartenzeitschriften[]
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Rostiger, die Feuerwehr kommt: Mobbing in der Schule

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Der der 2021 verstorbene Wiener Maler, Liedermacher und Sänger Arik Brauer hat viele gesellschaftskritische Lieder geschrieben und gesungen.

Seine Lieder sind auf Youtube zu finden, viele seiner bildnerischen Kunstwerke kann man in seiner Kunstsammlung bewundern, die von seiner Tochter Timna Brauer in seiner Villa in Wien-Döbling betrieben wird,

In diesem Lied, das mir heute untergekommen ist, thematisiert Arik Brauer das Mobbing in der Schule und drückt auch (mehr oder weniger ernsthaft) sein Bedauern über seine Beteiligung daran aus.

(Gesprochen) Wir hab′n in der Schul’ ein′ g’habt, den hab’n wir terrorisiert! Der hat rote Haar′ g′habt und Brill’n mit dicke, dicke Augenglas′ln
Und ich war der Allerärgste von allen. Und heut’ tut mir das ja so leid…

(Gesungen) Rostiger[1], die Feuerwehr kommt,
Schieb die Haar′ in’ Arsch.
Rostiger, die Feuerwehr kommt,
Schieb die Haar′ in’ Arsch.
Vieräugerter[2] scheangel[3] nicht,
Weil sonst nehm’ ich dir deine Glas′ln weg, –
Tralala, tralala, tralala, tralala –
Und der Bub der weint scho′ wieder
Und er Bub der weint.
Tralalala, tralalala…

Zerbrech’n wir ihm das Federpenal[4],
Schmeiß′n wir’s in Kanal.
Zerbrech′n wir ihm das Federpenal,
Schmeiß’n wir′s in Kanal.
Wasserschäd’l schau nicht so blöd,
Wasserschäd’l schau nicht so blöd,
Weil sonst nehm′ ich dir deine Guckascheck′n[5] weg, –
Tralala, tralala, tralala, tralala –
Und der Bub der weint scho’ wieder
Und er Bub der weint.
Tralalala, tralalala…

Geb′n wir ihm ein’ Knödelreiter[6],
Geb′n wir ihm ein’ Spitz[7].
Geb′n wir ihm ein’ Knödelreiter,
Geb’n wir ihm ein′ Spitz.
Rostiger, die Feuerwehr kommt.
Rostiger, die Feuerwehr kommt.
Und sie nehmen dir deine roten Federn weg.-
Tralala, tralala, tralala, tralala –
Und der Bub der weint scho′ wieder
Und er Bub der weint.
Rostiger, die Feuerwehr kommt…

__________
  1. Rothaariger[]
  2. Brillenträger[]
  3. schiele[]
  4. Stiftebox[]
  5. Sommersprossen[]
  6. Kniestoß in den Oberschenkel[]
  7. Fußtritt, mit der Schuhspitze[]
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Compline on Sunday

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CCP

Sunday & Eastertide

THE PREPARATION

The Lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. Amen.

Our help is in the name of the Lord
Who made heaven and earth.

A period of silence follows, for reflection on the past day. Words of penitence may be used; the following or some other.

Most merciful God,
we confess to you,
before the whole company of heaven
   and one another,
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
Forgive us our sins,
heal us by your Spirit
and raise us to new life in Christ. Amen.

Or:

Holy God,
holy and strong,
holy and immortal:
have mercy on us.

O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be forever.
Amen. [Alleluja! (Omitted in Lent)]

A HYMN may be sung, the following or some other.

Before the ending of the day,
Creator of the world, we pray
That you, with steadfast love, would keep
Your watch around us while we sleep.

From evil dreams defend our sight,
From fears and terrors of the night;
Tread under foot our deadly foe
That we no sinful thought may know.

Ordinary Doxology
O Father, that we ask be done
Through Jesus Christ, your only Son;
And Holy Spirit, by whose breath
Our souls are raised to life from death. Amen.

Easter Doxology
All praise be yours, O risen Lord,
From death to endless life restored;
Whom, with the Father, we adore
And Holy Spirit evermore. Amen.

THE WORD OF GOD

THE PSALMODY

FROM PSALM 104

   
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;*
O Lord my God, how excellent is your greatness!
2 You lay the beams of your chambers in the waters above;*
you make the clouds your chariot;
   you ride on the wings of the wind.
3 You make the winds your messengers*
and flames of fire your servants.
4 You send the springs into the valleys;*
they flow between the mountains.
5 All the beasts of the field drink their fill from them,*
and the wild asses quench their thirst.
6 Beside them the birds of the air make their nests*
and sing among the branches.
7 You water the mountains from your dwelling on high;*
the earth is fully satisfied by the fruit of your works.
8 You make grass grow for flocks and herds*
and plants to serve us all;
9 Yonder is the great and wide sea
   with its living things too many to number,*
creatures both small and great.
10 All of them look to you*
to give them their food in due season.
11 You give it to them, they gather it;*
you open your hand,
   and they are filled with good things.
12 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;*
may the Lord rejoice in all his works.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be forever.
Amen. [Alleluja! (Omitted in Lent)]

THE READING: the following or some other.

The servants of the Lamb shall see the face of God, whose name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night: they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for God will be their light; and they will reign for ever and ever.

Revelation 22. 4-5

THE RESPONSORY may be said.

Into your hands, O Lord,
   I commend my spirit. (Alleluia! Alleluia!)
Into your hands, O Lord,
   I commend my spirit. (Alleluia! Alleluia!)

For you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth.
I commend my spirit. (Or: Alleluia! Alleluia!)

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
   and to the Holy Spirit;
Into your hands, O Lord,
   I commend my spirit. (Alleluia! Alleluia!)

Keep me as the apple of your eye.
Hide me under the shadow of your wings.

THE GOSPEL CANTICLE: NUNC DIMITTIS (39)

   
R: Save us,* O Lord, while waking,
and guard us while sleeping,
that awake we may watch with Christ,
and asleep may rest in peace.
Or, in Eastertide:
R: Alleluia!* The Lord is risen, alleluia!
as he promised to you. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Or, on feasts:
R: Grant us your light, O Lord,*
that the darkness of our hearts being overcome,
we may receive the true light,
even Christ our Saviour.
1 Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:*
your word has been fulfilled.
2 My own eyes have seen the salvation*
which you have prepared in the sight of every people;
3 A light to reveal you to the nations*
and the glory of your people Israel.           Luke 2. 29-32

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be forever.
Amen. [Alleluja! (Omitted in Lent)]

The refrain is repeated after the canticle.

THE PRAYERS

Intercessions and thanksgivings may be offered here, or at any point in this section.

THE COLLECT: one of the following or some other.

Almighty God,
by triumphing over the powers of darkness
Christ has prepared a place for us
   in the new Jerusalem:
may we, who have this day given thanks
   for his resurrection,
praise him in the eternal city
of which he is the light;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Or:

Lighten our darkness,
Lord, we pray;
and in your mercy defend us
from all perils and dangers of this night;
for the love of your only Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER may be said.

[As we come to the ending of the day,
let us pray as our Redeemer has taught us:]

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
   who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.

[For thine is the kingdom,
   the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
] Amen.

A devotional ANTHEM may be sung here, or after the blessing.

THE BLESSING

In peace, we will lie down and sleep;
For you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.

Abide with us, Lord Jesus,
For the night is at hand and the day is now past.

As the night-watch looks for the morning,
So do we look for you, O Christ.

[Come with the dawning of the day
And make yourself known
in the breaking of the bread.
]

May the risen Lord Jesus watch over us and renew us
   as he renews the whole of creation.
May our hearts and lives echo his love. Amen.

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