Yesterday we were all awakened to the sad news that David Bowie had died. Over four million tweets flooded into Twitter acknowledging his contribution to music and art. His life and work had touched the lives of many including even the Archbishop of Canterbury. I mention his name because at the heart of a great deal of his work was a spirit of searching, a longing to find another world to which to belong. In a number of interviews Bowie acknowledged his search to know God  and indeed to find himself. It is surely this honesty that made him an engaging figure with many people. Are we not all searching and it is this common search that makes us vulnerable and human. While Jesus wasn’t the man who fell to earth he was God come to earth engaging with our search and inviting us to look for his Kingdom.

Lord,

You made us inquisitive people

Free to think

Free to choose

Free to live

Free to ask questions

Free to dress as we like

Free to sing and dance

To wear camel skins or space suits

Free to make decisions

To search for a better way

To be Major Tom

Even if we get it wrong

Lord,

Somewhere along the line

Our freedom  has become our prison

We’ve got tangled up

In ourselves

In our space

In our own importance

In our own publicity

Hiding behind our masks

Covering our shame

Wearing fig leaves

We pretend to be free

Forgive us, 

Lord

We’ve lost the mystery

The beauty

The Eden

The plot

But  we’ve discovered the way back

Thank you for the new Adam

The new man - Jesus 

The light of the world

The bright and morning Star

Lord 

You’ve made us inquisitive people

You’ve made us to be more than a dark star