40 days of praying and fasting,
40 days for life everlasting
40 days to stand up and say
We are here and here we will stay
It’s a time to answer a calling
Down to our knees we are falling
40 days of peaceful presence
Standing here is solemn vigil
40 days for hope and healing
40 days in faith revealing
The greatness of our God and King
When to his mother our prayers we bring
Open our eyes to see you moving
Open our hearts to what you’re using
40 days to change ourselves
Even as we pray for their change
40 days to discover the value of a soul
40 days to realize how we play a role
40 days for Life 40 days to wander
40 days to invest not squander
40 days to make your love known
40 ways to say you’re never alone

How precious are the little feet
That follow in his footsteps
How precious are the tiny hands
That are placed within his own
How precious the shining eyes
That watch with awe and wonder
The mouth that smiles bright
And ears that hear silent thunder
How precious and how lovely
Is the heart of a little child
It is so full of truth and light
A love that is so free and wild
The eyes that pierce the veil of night
How rich and how blessed
Are those children of the King
How pure the voice and spirit sing
How precious are the young
And those that are young at heart
How lucky they are from the start
How great the soul to see his face
How fortunate to see him in every place
How precious and holy and pure
It is to be loved and feel so secure
Let the children come to me
How blessed the life of simplicity

It is in dying that we come to life
It is in giving that we receive
It is in surrendering that we are freed
It is in losing ourselves that we are found
It is in silence that we hear
It is in consuming that we are consumed
It is in failing that we succeed
It is in stillness that there is movement
It is in sorrow that we find solace

With hands held open you pour out blessing
With hands held open I lay down my burden confessing
With hands held open you give us the greatest gift
With hands held open we are here to uplift
With hands held open we receive your very life
With hands held open we come to you tonight
Our hands are open; so too our hearts and minds
Enter in now, move and stay
While we sit and watch and pray
With hands held open you gather us in
Washing the stain of guilt and sin
I struggle so much and so often fail
And on my own I will never prevail
But I’m not alone for I have Emmanuel
And Mary and the saints and angels as well
I must fight the good fight and call upon the name
Who is and was and will forever remain
With hands held open you beckon and call
And help me back up when I trip slip and fall
I am not perfect, but I can always improve
Embrace and face shadow and light
And by the grace of God I’ll make it through this night
It’s not easy and it hurts but the struggle could be worse
God can make a blessing from what once was a curse
With hands held open we prepare
To celebrate this great mystery
I know a peace beyond compare
When I share in His-story

I long for you and even faint
For You, the Lord, my God
When we are close, I leap for joy
And when we are apart, I weep
You always reach down and lift me up
During the days out in the desert
When faith and hope are dry
And I wander through the barren land
You are an oasis of shade rest and drink
You restore me and refresh
You bring me back to life
And when I find myself in darkness
In this lonesome weary season
You want to teach me for some reason
And you will bring me back into light
I reach for you My Lord Holy One
Even as flowers reach for the sun
In you I find peace and rest
As high as the mountains
As deep as the seas
As far as the east is from the west
I proclaim your greatness Oh Lord My God
I sing of your mercy I shout of your love
You are beautiful beyond measure
No word can express or define
And still with all I am, I try
I would give anything to be united again
But I cannot yet so here I remain
To know love and loss, joy and pain
When I cry out I know you hear me
I take comfort knowing you are near me
And so I live in awe and wonder
And wait for the day I might join your number

I no longer beat for myself alone
I beat for one who made himself known
Humbled himself to be one like me
I was locked away and he held the key
He knocked on the door said “May I come in?”
He got to work cleaning me from within
Though I was unworthy he loved me the same
The lifted me up and called me by name
When I was broken he made something new
Put me together with something stronger than glue
Piece by piece I began to realize
How special I was in his loving eyes

Eye has not seen nor ear has heard
What I know to be perfect and true
One look at the sunset or creation around
Is all I need to know where He is found
To truly believe what the eyes cannot see
Hold fast to what it means to me
I may not see, or think but i know what i feel
And in the deepest part of me, I know this is real

To what shall we compare you
Who are greater than all we can fathom
How can we tell of you?
No eye has seen no ear has heard
The senses fall short to describe you.
We reach out and try to understand
Seeking something tangible and real
We learn and study and think and choose
We can realize and rationalize
We see the odds of our reality
We know how perfect the details
And we cannot help but think this is more
More than chance, more than serendipity
The details and exactness make it seem
Like something greater was at work
How else could we make sense
Of such an impossibility?