BY WATER AND THE SPIRIT

       Refrain:
       By water and the Spirit
              bathed in glory not our own,
       we are made a holy people
              through whom God's love is shown.

O God who roused the light to birth
       and set the waters' bounds,
then lavished varied life on earth
       that still our minds confounds:
revive your pow'r to form and bless,
       to conquer gloom and strife,
that where all seems bleak emptiness,
       you yet may bring forth life.
       Refrain

O God of life who deigned to be
       of mortal mother born,
and shared the hospitality
       of those whom good folk scorn:
remove from us the names that blind
       by gender, age, or race;
your image may we seek and find
       in every heart and face.
       Refrain

O God of boundless energy,
       so wild in wind and flame
that those who sensed your mystery
       could never be the same:
stir up in us the will and strength
       to share your urgent might;
transform us that our lives at length
       may bear the Gospel's light.
       Refrain

O God of threefold life divine
       yet ever joined as One,
so may our words and deeds combine
       to let your will be done.
Use every woman, man, and child
       to minister your peace,
till ancient rifts be reconciled,
       and proud divisions cease.
       Refrain