When the days grow darker
Casting long, cold shadows
Allowing fear and despair into our lives
Let my light shine brighter.
When the task grows more wearisome
Filling valleys and flattening mountains
Building highways in the desert
Be the strength in my bones.
When I wait on you
And they shake their heads
Saying, "Have you not heard the news?"
Keep in my heart the good news that makes
even the child in the womb leap with joy:
That you are coming into the world.
May I praise you in shadow as well as light.
May I praise you in winter as well as spring.
May I praise you in silence as well as song.
May I praise you in solitude as well as companionship.
May I praise you in illness as well as health.
And when the last glowing beam disappears over the horizon
And darkness shrouds the land
Give me the grace to say to all,
Despair not
Morning is coming.