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Rewilding our Souls

Fireweed Saviour

4/19/2019

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A poem for Easter Sunday

Up from the ash,

where once fire raged
leaving scorched black earth,
rise magenta-topped stems,
lithe and delicate,
bowing in the wind
then standing tall again, laughing
in the face of death.

Fireweed saviour,
you pave the way,
flourishing on disturbed earth,
bringing life again where once
death reigned.
A miracle of grace
riding on silky-haired seeds
carried by the wind
to landscapes in need of
salvation.

Easter Jesus,
you germinate seeds of
new life in the burned and
baren places in our world,
and in the brokenness of our lives,
growing beauty, hope, and love
on delicate stems rising

up from the ash.

​Wendy Janzen, 2019
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Fire & Holy Places Prayer

4/19/2019

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A prayer for Good Friday

​Life-Giver of all that is and ever has been,

who meets us in our grief:
We arrive here at the end of the week,
weary, and with fires and holy places
on our minds and hearts:
the Notre Dame Cathedral,
Black churches in Louisiana,
Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque,
and forest cathedrals.
So much destruction, despair,
loss, death, and ashes.
On this Good Friday we reflect
on death and despair,
grief and loss,
sorrow laid bare like a
landscape scorched of its trees
or a community of its spiritual centre.
We feel the emptiness
in our bones, our hearts
reach across time and space
to those most closely
touched by the flames.
Spirit of Life, we know
that you grieve too. Hear
our cries, as we cry
for the brokenness in
our world and our own ability
to inflict wounds on others
and on the earth.
May our Wounded Healer
offer comfort and company as
we wait in stillness and silence
for hope to be born again
from the ashes.
Amen.

Wendy Janzen, 2019
​
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PineĀ (Palm) Sunday Prayer

4/12/2019

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April 15 - Lent 6 (Palm Sunday)

Source of all being, Eternal Word, Holy Spirit -
Today we enter into a week called holy;
drawing nearer to the events that shook up
history and invite us into faith.
It is a day of rejoicing and singing your praises.
We wave our pine boughs,
our hemlock branches, our cedars,
and lay them down before you.
eagerly wanting to
demonstrate our devotion.
We confess that we are so easily
caught up in excitement and expectation
that we forget to look more deeply
at what is really going on around us.
Your presence and your work
among us is not shallow or simple.
Have mercy on us, O God,
when we don’t understand.
Faith is messy stuff.
Help us to lay down our
misguided expectations of you,
of others, of ourselves.
We pray with confidence
of your love and compassion for us
and for the entire universe,
Open our hearts wide enough
to hold the beauty and praise
along with the pain and darkness
of life, and death, and new life.
Amen.

- Wendy Janzen, 2019

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One who welcomes wonder

4/5/2019

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Prayer for the 5th Sunday of Lent

I had a little fun with alliteration on this one... 

O One who welcomes wonder

and wipes away tears:
As we continue to wander through
the weeks of Lent, O God,
we pray that your tender mercy
would restore our weary hearts.
You know our sorrows, our
fears, and our worries.
Restore us, God, and
turn our weeping into joy.
We want to witness your works:
You create new ways in the wilderness,
and waterways in the desert.
May we, like the wild animals,
honour and worship you.
Anoint us wild ones with
your extravagant love,
so that the fragrance of your
presence may waft through the air
in our wake, wherever we go.
Amen.

​- Wendy Janzen 2019



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Spring poetry

4/1/2019

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April is national poetry month. I have to say that the emergency of spring does inspire me to write poetry. Here are a few haiku's I've written for spring.

O glorious spring!
Bulbs break through warming earth
and welcome the light.

The Divine Presence
comes like gentle spring showers
that water the earth.

Small beauty, springtime:
sun, birdsong, feathery moss.
Senses awaken.

Listen to winter
giving over to springtime
bringing forth new life.

Snowdrops, pushing up
through brown grass in early spring
announcing rebirth. 

​Wendy Janzen

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    Author

    Reflections, poetry, prayers, and resources  written by Wendy Janzen unless otherwise noted.
    ​
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

    If you are an established church or institution, please consider making a donation when using these resources in addition to attribution. Thanks!

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