Christmas and New Year Greetings from Social Justice Ireland

At the end of a tumultuous year Social Justice Ireland wishes all its members and supporters and all who visit this website a Happy Christmas and a Hope-filled and Peaceful New Year.  The reflection below, adapted from an old Gaelic prayer by Mary Rogers, seems appropriate at this time.
 
'DEEP PEACE'
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
of water flowing, rising and falling,
sometimes advancing, sometimes receding.
May the stream of your life flow unimpeded.
Deep peace of the running wave to you!
 
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
which fans your face on a sultry day,
the air which you breathe deeply, rhythmically,
which imparts to you energy, consciousness, life.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you!
 
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
who, herself unmoving, harbors the movements
and facilitates the life of the ten thousand creatures,
while resting contented, stable, tranquil.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you!
 
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
which stay invisible till darkness falls
and disclose their pure and shining presence
beaming down in compassion on our turning world.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you!
 
Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you,
of unpretentious folk who, watching and waiting,
spend long hours out on the hillside,
expecting in simplicity some Coming of the Lord.
Deep peace of the watching shepherd to you!
 
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you,
who, swift as the wave and pervasive as the air,
quiet as the earth and shining like a star,
breathes into us His Peace and His Spirit.
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you!
 
Mary Rogers, adapted from the Gaelic