Christmas Eve prayer: We make our way to the manger

All that will be done, has been done, Lord. The preparing, the waiting, the anticipation, the anxiety, all ends tonight. No matter where we find ourselves this Christmas Eve, we make our way to the manger to worship. We leave behind our burdens and fears, come just as we are and rest in the incarnate love of God. We abide in the beauty of boundaries broken, barriers breached and reconciliation enacted through the birth of Jesus Christ. We rejoice that you make stables sacred, ordinary people vessels of the holy and shepherds and animals the first witnesses to the inbreaking of salvation. Visit us this night with angels, give us ears to hear the chorus of good news of great joy for all people, grant us the courage to leave what we know in order to encounter heaven come to earth. May the coming of the Prince of Peace hush the din of violence, quiet in us any voice but yours and render all creation lost in praise. Amen.