 Hosanna whisper the hepatica, First ephemerals of the forest floor. Hosanna groan the elder beach, Succumbing to disease. Hosanna sing the nuthatches, Drowned out by the roar of traffic. Hosanna proclaim the deadwood, Offering life to others. Hosanna spoke the oak, Matriarch of this place. Hosanna shouted the stones, When the people were silent. - Wendy Janzen Inspired by Palm Sunday passage in Luke where Jesus says that if the people were silent, then the rocks would cry out, as I listened to the voices of the forest around me on a Sunday afternoon walk through Breithaupt Park. Hosanna means "save us."
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 A haiku written for Good Friday
O Forsaken One, You know the depths of sorrow. We sit with you now. I see Good Friday pain, death, and sorrow mirrored everywhere... I saw this stump on a walk this week and the image caught me with its starkness. What have you seen that feels forsaken? Christ, the Incarnate One, is here in the world with us, in places of pain and woundedness. The invitation today is to witness it and sit with it. Easter sunrise prayer
Divine Presence, Midwife of spring: Awaken us to your presence within and around us this holy morning. May we be alive to the mystery and wonder of this new day, and be reminded that each sunrise is a proclamation of resurrection. Amen. - Wendy Janzen  For Good Friday
It is finished. Cut off. Ended. No more. Lifeless. It's body brought down, but for what reason? What threat? To what end? Laying on the forest floor. Humbled. Hollowed. Hallowed. It's story,it's legacy, it's outpouring, is not finished. - Wendy Janzen Prayer for the Sixth Sunday of Lent
This is a day of conflicting emotions, God of passion and life. We have come to a bend in the river, a turning point in the narrative, a juxtaposition of celebration and impending sorrow. We too feel the strangeness of life sometimes weighed down with the stresses of pandemic life, yet dotted with joy and hope. We pray for moments of relief, for times of pleasure in life even in the face of challenge. Like a river in spring, that sometimes overflows her banks, flooding the surrounding lowlands, may love and joy overflow into the low places in our lives. May we delight in your never ceasing goodness, bubbling and dancing like water flowing over rocks and obstacles. Pull us deeper into your current of life, a river that is wide with mercy and justice, a river that carries the full range of emotion, a river that ebbs and flows but never ceases. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Prayer for the Fifth Sunday of Lent
Mothering God, who created Earth and formed rhythms and seasons and cycles: I celebrate the coming of spring once again. As the warming sun melts frozen earth into mud and snowdrops bloom, emerald moss invites me to lay down my head and listen to earth’s heartbeat. Give me pause here, God of mystery, to stop and ponder what lies beneath. Do not let me turn away from examining the unseen places deep within. What secrets are hidden there? What wisdom have you planted, what seeds of transformation are just waiting for the right conditions? Make of me fertile soil where spring’s eternal lessons of regeneration might take root and grow: death is not the end of the story, but rather the place of new beginnings. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Lent
This has felt like a year in the wilderness O God. A year of wandering, sometimes lost, often alone, facing challenges we weren’t prepared for. There have been thorns and snakes and wild animals, dark moonless nights, endless days, and clouds of dread, disorientation, and danger. A year, already, of wandering far away from what was familiar, of wondering what lies ahead. God, in this wilderness save us. Remind us, Wild Christ, that wilderness can be a place of ferment, introspection, prompting insight and transformation. Teach us that facing our fears can sometimes be a remedy for our malaise. Restore our sense of wholeness. Heal our wounded spirits, Reorient our lost souls. Rescue us from trouble and inject us with hope. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Prayer for the third Sunday of Lent
Blessed Spirit of Wisdom, In whom we live and move and have our being, Bless to us this day the vast sky high above our heads, the sky close in front of our faces, the sky we breathe into our bodies. We give thanks and praise today for the sky, which is ever changing, and yet never changes. We give thanks for spaciousness and splendor, sunrise and sunset, floating clouds, celestial bodies, and rainbows. We give thanks for all that is unseen and invisible to us, all that we are unconscious of, and all that we take for granted, but that is vital for life. Broaden our understanding beyond our limited ways of knowing. Deepen the arc of our wisdom to align with the wisdom of heaven. Expand our awareness of your encompassing, embracing presence, as present as the air in the sky, even when we can’t see the signs. Glory, sings billowing clouds, Glory, sings aurora borealis, Glory, sings daybreak. Glory be to the sky. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Prayer for the Second Sunday of Lent
Creator of All, Tree of Life, Spirit among us: as we wander deeper into the wilderness of this season, searching for paths among the woods, be our companion along the way less traveled. The forest is calling us: come. Come, stand among us. Come where light and shadow dance as branches sway with the wind. Come in wonder and worship, you powerful and powerless, come, children and elders, come, from all directions, come, learn the secrets of life: dormancy and growth, interconnection and community, rootedness and reaching upward. We confess our devotion to independence, our belief we can go it alone, and our me-first mentality. Heal us from our short sightedness so we might see the forest for the trees, recognize our dependance on you, and our interdependence with all life from mycelia to majestic pines. Shelter us, O God, in the safety of your strong branches. Nourish and strengthen us, but keep us humble of heart. Tune our ears to your timbered voice, and tune our hearts to praise. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Prayer for the First Sunday of Lent
From the depths of our souls we call out to the Source of all being: deep calls to Deep, hear our cries. We are born of water, watery wombs hold us then spill us out into this world of light. At times - like now - it is easy to feel like life has us in over our heads. We are treading water and growing very weary. The vastness of the sea, with no shore in sight, waves and storms, sea monsters, real or imagined, all threaten us. Buoy us, O Presence. Preserve us from the storms, have compassion on us, embrace us with mercy. Hold us, so that we might stop our striving, at least for a bit, catch our breath, regain our strength, find hope in our waiting. Calm our weary souls that we might find true rest. And, when the time is right invite us to dive beneath the surface, down to the deep, and discover the treasure that awaits. Amen - Wendy Janzen |
AuthorReflections, poetry, prayers, photos, and resources written by Wendy Janzen unless otherwise noted. Archives
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