Dr. Debra Rienstra (debrarienstra.com) is professor of English at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the author of four books, including most recently Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth (Fortress, 2022). She writes regularly for the Reformed Journal blog and hosts the Refugia podcast. When not reading, writing, or professoring, she can be found doing crossword puzzles or figuring out how to garden.
Last Updated: May 8, 2023
Written to be sung following the second stanza (“God of God . . .”) of “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Gently she holds him, deity enshrouded.
Love comes redeeming our mortal estate.
Sharing our dying, firstborn of our rising.
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord!
Soul shaping takes time. Some people go to church a few times hoping for a dramatic encounter with God and an entirely new life—in six weeks! That does happen occasionally. As Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases,” a metaphor he immediately applied to the Spirit (John 3:8). But instant transformation is not the typical pattern. What with our own obtuseness and tendency to suffer from bad worship and all, most of us require years of churchgoing before showing improvements.
We developed and have used or adapted this litany for several Thanksgiving services. The structure is simple—the leader gives thanks for very specific things, and the people affirm their thanks for those items with a more general phrase. We encourage the use of several different leaders on the different sections of the litany.
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