I Bid You Welcome!

Dear New Day,

I know you will emerge very soon from the darkness.
I bid you welcome on this particular day.

You will bring with you the Lantern of Light, and
I ask that the light of understanding and peace
shine upon me and all whom I meet…

In your appearing, everything will be new. Yesterday
will be gone, and in this span of hours new
opportunities and possibilities will appear. May
it be so, and may I not be hesitant to respond
with gratitude…

Along with the opportunities and the possibilities,
you will gift us with challenges that will call forth
courage and perseverance. May I be ready to
live in that moment…

Perhaps when I least expect it, I will encounter
human need in another person. When that
happens, may I overcome my fear with compassion,
and may that feeling turn into a practical response
of care and aid…

As the light of your lantern now begins to appear
in the distance, may I feel the excitement, the joy,
inherent in this new day, and may I release the
song that I hold in my heart…

O, New Day…my ever faithful companion. Cast
the Light on my path that I may walk rightly.
And direct the Light to my heart, that it might
help me resist the coldness that seeks to harden
my soul…

Light of this new day, I bid you welcome!