A Prayer of Dedication for a Meetinghouse

Out of wood and stone, out of dream and sacrifice,
the people build a home.
Out of the work of their hands and hearts and minds,
the people fashion a symbol and a reality.

May this house be truly a place of meeting:
meeting in warmth and joy and openness;
meeting in courage and love and trust.
May all who enter here trust one another so surely
that they may share the deep fires
that burst into anger
as much as the sweet spring waters
that swell into laughter;
the slow erosion of wounded tears
as much as the soaring song.

May these walls know silence
as a hundred hearts search inward,
each for its own small spark of hope
that might otherwise be snuffed out in the noise.
May these rafters hear the voice of the child
as surely as that of the orator
and the sound of the lute
and the clack of the typewriter
and the swish of the broom
and know that all are as holy
as the shout of a million stars.

May the rain fall lightly on this house
and the sun shine warmly
and the winds blow softly
and bless it
as a place of joy and peace.