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This year, in honour of Earth Day, we started an hour early with some activities including garbage clean-up, letter writing, forest bingo (for the kids!) and a self-guided spring ephemeral walk.
As we moved into a time of worship, we focused on celebrating the ways we are cared for by the Earth, rather than on the problems we need to fix. The Earth is amazing, and full of blessings! These two verses came to mind: "The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it." - Psalm 24:1 "Do to others as you would have them do to you." - Luke 6:31 The last chapter of Barbara Brown Taylor's book An Altar in the World is called “The Practice of Pronouncing Blessings.” She writes, “To pronounce a blessing on something is to see it from the divine perspective. To pronounce a blessing is to participate in God's own initiative. To pronounce a blessing is to share God's own audacity.” “The key to blessing things is knowing that they beat you to it. They key to blessing things is to receive their blessing.” We wandered with these invitations: Remember that we are both blessed by the earth, and we are a blessing to the earth. See what captures your attention, stop, and offer a blessing. Consider how it has first blessed you. Rather than continuing on and jumping to bless and be blessed by as many beings as possible, take time to listen and offer the gift of your attention and time. What do they want you to know? What do they have to tell you about God? What does God want you to know about them?
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Lover of the world,
we thank you for the gifts of the Earth and for the way Earth supports our daily lives, from birth to death. Thank you for healthy, fertile soil, and for the good food this land produces. We thank you for the abundance of fresh water we have here in our watershed, and the beauty and refreshment it brings to our lives. Thank you for clean air, for wind, for breath, and for the trees and plants that create oxygen for us. Thank you for the sun, warming our bodies, bringing growth, and providing energy. Thank you for the creatures who are our neighbours, for their beauty, resourcefulness, and roles in the ecosystem. Thank you for pollinators, seeds and flowers, fungi, mycelia, ancient forests, clouds, mountains, sandy beaches, ocean currents, gravity, the tilt of the earth, the changing of the seasons, jet streams, constellations and planets. Help us to love our place on the earth, and to be moved by our love to live lives of discipleship that reflect our love for the earth. We pray in the name of Christ, firstborn of all creation. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Ephemeral Noun: Something that lasts for a very short time. Something ephemeral. Specifically, a plant that grows, flowers, and dies in a few days. Psalm 103:15-17 As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. April Ephemerals My eyes scan the dead brown forest floor, searching for early emerging ephemerals, joyous sentinals of spring. Something about these fleeting flowers calls me back each year to witness their being. I recite their names like a seasonal litany or an annual reunion with old friends: Hepatica Cut-Leaved Toothwort Dutchman's Breeches Trout Lily Bloodroot Virginia Waterleaf Blue Cohosh Rue Anemone Spring Beauty Trillium Thanks be to God! Yes, I see you, and I see myself. Our lives, too, are short. You show us how to live with abandon and to to let our beauty shine, trusting the Eternal One, Beginning and Ending, to provide purpose and grounding, whatever the length of our days. - Wendy Janzen -
Bless us today, God of the Universe, as we look for you as our Shining Light and Holy Darkness. Bless us as we look up to the heavens, inspired by the wonder and mystery of the moon eclipsing the sun. As we look up with awe, may we also look within: Let this occasion when the sun is obscured make us aware of the things that obscure our view of your shining presence in the world and in our soul. Let it prompt us to wonder how we contribute to obscuring the light of life, justice, and wholeness for others, locally and globally. In this sacred moment, burn your imprint on our hearts, and may your brilliance fill us and shine out for all to see. Amen. - Wendy Janzen A prayer, poem, and benediction for Easter sunrise.
Out of the darkness the grace of God rises like the sun hope rises like the dawn. Into all that is cold and shadowed in our lives the Light and Love of God shines. Come to us, and renew us, O God of life. - by Dirt Church Liturgy “spring song” the green of Jesus is breaking the ground and the sweet smell of delicious Jesus is opening the house and the dance of Jesus music has hold of the air and the world is turning in the body of Jesus and the future is possible - by Lucille Clifton Benediction May Creator’s love ground you, may Christ’s love rise to guide you like the sun, may Spirit’s love be a constant presence within you and around you. Christ is risen! Amen - by Wendy Janzen |
AuthorReflections, poetry, prayers, photos, and resources written by Wendy Janzen unless otherwise noted. Archives
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