 Photo by Susan Fish Our November gathering invited us into Lament. Chip read Romans 8:22-28 from the First Nations Version of the Bible, which includes these words: "It is plain to see that all creation is still groaning in pain like a mother giving birth. And even we who have first tasted of the Spirit are groaning on the inside... Spirit helps us in our weakness, for our prayers are often empty words, but Creator’s own Spirit groans deep within us, without words..." Wendy shared a quoted from Hillarie Maddox, from her substack Black Girl Country Living, Oct. 16, titled "Feeling the Earth in Our Bodies" and sent us into our wandering time with this invitation: As we wander today, I invite you to pay attention and tune in to signs of distress, woundedness, loss, or stress the Earth is exhibiting here in this place. Tune in, as well, to similar things you are feeling or suppressing in your body. What do the earth, your body, and the Spirit want you to know today? We ended with Chip leading us in a ritual of symbolically dropping our 'wordless prayers or groans' into the creek.
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This month we gathered together to practice lament, recognizing that grief work helps to build our muscles for grieving when we find ourselves in the depths of grief. Though it is a vulnerable thing, lament is best done in community.
This passage from the prophet Isaiah seemed like it was written for today, as we carry grief for the violence and injustice happening in Gaza and Israel, and recognize that violence impacts both people and the more-than-human world. Isaiah 33:7-9 (The Message) But look! Listen! … men weep openly. Peacemaking diplomats are in bitter tears… The peace treaty is broken, its conditions violated… The very ground under our feet mourns, the … mountains hang their heads… and the forests… ? Bare branches. We suffer together with all creation. Wars and disasters decimate people, land, water, and the creatures who live in its wake. For our wandering & wondering time, we were invited to take time to be attentive to the heartaches and injustices of the world, of our lives, and of the land. Where is God in the midst of grief and injustice? Great Mystery, God of Peace, we stand together in community with all creation, living and dying and longing for new life. Receive our tears. Lighten our hearts. Heal our sorrows. Carry us forward. Amen. God of the Cosmos,
who created the circle of life, we give thanks and praise for this most beautiful, complex, and wise planet we live on. We recognize the brokenness around us and within us, and offer you our deep grief and prayers for our planet. In the brownness of this season of decay, we know that you are present. We pray for all the griefs we carry - for loved ones we have lost, for our loss of connection with the earth, for disenfranchised peoples, for species under threat, for drained ancient lakes, for dammed rivers, for strange weather patterns, for the lack of will to ban coal, for short sighted leaders, for urban sprawl and new highways, for unwanted pipelines, for rising temperatures. Hear our cries, and have mercy on us, O God. Hold and honour our grief, reminding us that the depth of our grief reflects the depth of our love and concern. Grant us your deep peace, beyond our understanding. May the light of this single candle be a beacon of hope, a light in the darkness, a guiding force into a new way of living in step and in balance with the needs of all life. We place our trust in your great love for the world, and that we have a future with hope. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Sinking...
I dive beneath dark water, immersed and held briefly in another world. Surfacing, I breathe deeply. Floating face to the sky, with each exhale I sink slightly. I align my body to the sinking sun in the hazy sky; a brilliant orange path glistens across the water, reflects fires burning in the northwest, points right to my feet. My heart sinks with the knowledge we are all sinking, burning, melting choking. God, save us from ourselves. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on the Earth, on the trees, sky, glaciers, communities, and creatures… Save us from this path of self destruction. Save us from sinking into oblivion. You are our bright light, fresh air, quenching rain, enduring solace, solid ground, our hope beyond hope. - Wendy Janzen As we carry a lot of anxiety and a variety of different stresses these days due to Covid-19, this spiritual practice in nature may be therapeutic. Do it whenever works in your routine, but consider doing it before Easter, perhaps on Good Friday, a day of grief and lament.
Wound Walk (adapted from "Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche" by Bill Plotkin)
- Wendy Janzen This month of November can be a melancholy month - darker days, moodier skies, fallen leaves, and days like All Saints Day, Remembrance Day, and Eternity Sunday that all point us toward facing our losses and making space for lament. A lot of us feel grief over the amount of climate-related damage is being inflicted on the earth. Our November worship gathering created space to acknowledge our grief, to name species at risk, and to turn to God for hope in the ritual of communion. Litany of Lament Christ, our Wounded Healer, who suffers the pains of creation, we bring to you our prayers of lament for the Earth. In your mercy, receive our prayers as we name the species of our province that are threatened, endangered or extirpated: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison Christ, our Wounded Healer, who suffers the pains of creation, we bring before you our laments as we name other environmental concerns we carry: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison Christ, our Wounded Healer, who suffers the pains of creation, we hold before you other griefs and laments that are on our hearts today: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison Christ, our Wounded Healer, who suffers the pains of creation, Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, have mercy on us. In your kindness and love, you have entrusted us as caretakers for your Creation, to live as your image-bearers in a world you created for your delight. We confess that we have turned from your will, often abusing the natural world for greedy and short-sighted purposes. Now we are facing global climate disruption and other ecological crises as a result of our rebellion. Forgive us of our sins, and the sins of our society, and our failure to care for what you created for good. In your mercy, lead us to repentance, compassion, and life. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. I have set before you life and death . . . therefore choose life. (Deuteronomy 30:19) Partial list of species who are threatened, endangered, or extirpated in the province of Ontario: Eastern Tiger Salamander, Extirpated Fowlers Toad, Endangered Barn Owl, Endangered Golden Eagle, Endangered Greater Prairie Chicken, Extirpated Lake Sturgeon, Endangered Paddlefish, Extirpated Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, Endangered Karner Blue Moth, Extirpated Mountain Lion (Cougar), Endangered American Badger, Endangered American Chestnut, Endangered Small White Lady’s Slipper, Endangered Spring Blue-Eyed Mary Extirpated Four-Leaved Milkweed, Endangered Blue Racer Snake, Endangered Eastern Box Turtle, Extirpated Spotted Turtle, Endangered Timber Rattlesnake, Extirpated Incurved Grizzled Moss, Extirpated Pale-Bellied Frost Lichen, Endangered Piping Plover, Endangered Grey Fox,Threatened Butternut Tree, Endangered Eastern Flowering Dogwood, Endangered Red Mullberry, Endangered Common Five-Lined Skink, Endangered Algonquin Wolf, Threatened Eastern Persius Duskywing Moth, Extirpated Northern Bobwhite, Endangered and more... - Wendy Janzen 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
A prayer of lament ~ Creator of all that is, Wounded Healer, Spirit of Life: Bless the tears we shed for those we have loved and lost, Bless the heads we bow for public tragedies and acts of violence. Bless the sighs we breathe for endangered species and habitat. Bless the hands we wring for the effects of climate change. Bless us as we lament. Cradle us as we cry. Restore us as we look for hope. Amen. Wendy Janzen 2018 |
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