With Apologies to the Psalmist

Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty – he is the King of glory. – Psalm 24:9-10 (NIV)

Lift up your heads, church doors,
Lift them up, you faithful hearts,
That the Queen of Grace may come in.

Who is She, this Queen of Grace?
God Almighty—
She is the Queen of Grace!

You who have waited lonely months,
Walk through the doors!
You who have been locked down,
The bolts are thrown open!

You who will remain at home to worship,
For whom health or distance make your home the fittest sanctuary
You will not be shut out again.

Having opened a new door through camera’s lens,
The warm embrace of community has found its focus.
Having found that our reach is as wide as the globe,
Loving hearts now know how wide their reach can be.

To the one clamoring for more and sooner,
To the one pleading for less and later,
To the one who feels that all is now well,
To the one whose guard is still up,
To the one who feels this has all been overblown
To the one who mourns the death of their loved ones,

Six hundred thousand times over:

Lift up your heads, church doors,
Lift them up, you faithful hearts,
That the Queen of Grace may come in.
Who is She, this Queen of Grace?
God Almighty—
She is the Queen of Grace!

Prayer
Help us to know how to gather again, in love, in peace, in faith, in justice.