You keep us waiting.
You, the God of time,
want us to wait
for the right time in which to discover
who we are, where we must go,
who will be with us, and what we must do
So thank you… for the waiting time.

You keep us looking.
You the God of all space,
want us to look in the right and wrong places
for signs of hope
for people who are without hope
for visions of a better world which will appear
among the disappointments of the world we know.
So thank you… for the looking time.

You keep us loving.
You the God whose name is love,
want us to be like you –
to love the loveless, the unlovely and the unlovable;
and most difficult of all
to love ourselves
So thank you… for the loving time.

And in all this, you keep us.
Through the hard questions with no easy anwers;
through failing where we hoped to succeed
and making an impact when we felt useless;
through the patience and the dreams and the love of other;
and through Jesus Christ and his Spirit,
you keep us.
So thank you… for the keeping time,
and for now
and for ever
Amen

Iona Community Worship book (1998)