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Responses: Religion

We lift up our voice in thankfulness-

For all the high and holy traditions which have come down to us from the days which are no more;

For the wisdom of the seer, for the purity of the saint, for the constancy of the martyr, for the love of gentle hearts;

For unknown and lowly souls whose names are forgotten, but who were faithful in their day and place;

For the great bond of unity and fellowship which knits together all who have lived, or are living now, to serve the noble concerns of mankind.

May we find strength in the thought that the invisible forces of Truth, Goodness and Beauty are ever at work in the world - and may we be faithful in our own witness to these.

(Words of Worship, 153, 'High and Holy Traditions')

Let religion be to us life and joy.

Let religion be to us a voice of recurring challenge to the best we have and may be; let it be a trumpet call to action that is utterly generous.

Let religion be to us the dissatisfaction with things that are which bids us serve more eagerly the true and the right.

Let religion be to us the sorrow that opens for us the way of sympathy, understanding and service to a suffering humanity.

Let religion be to us the wonder and lure of that which is only partly known and understood.

Let religion be to us appreciations that are keen and enthusiastic: the eye that glories in nature's majesty and beauty, and the heart that rejoices in human deeds of kindness and of courage.

Let religion be to us ideals that are true and right, yet ever beyond our finest achievement.

Let religion be to us security and serenity because of its truth and beauty, and because of the enduring worth and power of the loyalties which it engenders in us.

Let religion be to us hope and purpose, discovering for us opportunities to express our best through daily tasks and associations:

Uniting us in fellowship with all that is admirable in human beings everywhere, and holding before our eyes the prospect of a nobler life for all mankind, which each may in some measure help to make actual.

(Number 124, 'Religion', Words of Worship)