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An Ecological Lord’s Prayer
Our nurturing God, present in the entire cosmos, Blessed are your names: Life and Love. May your way of love and your desire for life be available to all creatures all lands, all waters, and skies. Provide for us all that we need for life, through healthy soil and water, abundant gardens, food forests, and regenerative agriculture. Forgive us when we exploit the earth, over-fish the seas, pollute the skies, and generally overstep healthy boundaries with our neighbours. Move us into living a way of peace that heals the heart of all creation and repairs the fabric of life. Lead us away from greedy ways: lives of consumerism and excess, and deliver us from apathy and inaction. For we want to be faithful to your vision of a life of kinship, reconciliation, and love. Today and each new day, amen. - Wendy Janzen
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September 1st marks the first day of the liturgical "Season of Creation." This prayer was written in honour of this season that highlights our relationship with the natural world and the importance of widening the circle of our worship words and practices to include all creation.
We give thanks this day for the sun, moon, and stars, lighting our way, illuminating beauty, energizing all life. We give thanks this day for the ground beneath us, solid rock and living soil, foundation and fertility, supporting and sustaining. We give thanks this day for the water of life, rain and rivers, oceans and glaciers, flowing and hydrating. We give thanks this day for sky, air, and wind, animating breath, sacred interchange, inspiring and connecting. For all four elements and the ways they work together, for all creatures, for all places, for life and death, we offer our deepest gratitude to Creator of all. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Outside the flimsy walls my body feels the chill of this new day. I could have stayed under the covers, cozy and comfortable, dozing and content. But out here, in the open, I awaken - here is a living world where flowers dot the forest floor, breeze makes trees dance, dew sparkles on grass - delightful and gracious hosts to us visiting guests, gifts so easily missed by us indoor beings. God of wild beings and wild places, thank you for the birds and their exquisite songs, the variety of green, refreshing mornings that make us feel alive, awed and amazed at the world beyond our sheltered lives. May our encounters with places of wild beauty and the creatures who call them home expand our hearts, minds, imaginations. May we be open to your expansive presence, and may it expand our love and care for all creation. May we take time to pay attention to and find delight in the lives of those with feather & fur, fins & scales, and learn their names, sounds, habitats, and needs. May we remember you created and blessed them, and that you made an everlasting covenant with the land, all wild creatures, and us. May we love the world in each small detail, and also in its wonderfully complex fullness. May we tread lightly and leave no trace. Bless our summer travels and encounters. May they transform us into new creations. Amen - Wendy Janzen On April 29, Burning Bush Forest Church became a provisional church in Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. For the occasion, I shared a prayer that I wrote. Here are some excerpts:
Creator of the Cosmos, Christ Incarnate, Spirit who inspires: Like trees in a forest, grains of sand on a beach, birds in a flock, and cells in a body, help us remember that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. In your wisdom and love you designed us and all that exists for connection and interdependence. We give you thanks for watersheds and solar systems, microclimates and biomes, congregations and area churches, among whom we find community... I invite you to take some time while out on a walk, in a park, or in your yard, to reflect on being part of something bigger than yourself. Consider the ways your life is connected to the earth, water, and sky. Reflect on your place in our watershed/ecosystem, and your interdependence within the web of life. Contemplate how your faith and soul is nurtured by being part of a faith community. Give thanks for the blessings that come from these connections. - Wendy Janzen Blessed be the Light
that bursts forth, illuminating new paths, enlightening new thoughts. May this Epiphany season be filled with dreams and signs. May your imagination take you beyond what you thought was possible. May you have the courage and vision to follow the Light into places of inspiration. - Wendy Janzen Sustaining God
of waters, skies, and land, of endangered species and habitats, of marginalized peoples and places, we raise our prayers during this time of crisis. We pray for those with power and voice who gather in Glasgow to negotiate solutions to this mess we have created. We pray for those without power who are most adversely affected by changes in climate and who are often overlooked. We pray for all of us addicted to fossil fuels and progress and pray for open eyes, softened hearts, and transformed actions. We pray for mercy for fire-scorched landscapes, melting ice, and extreme weather events. We pray that we might offer our love and our lives for others, that we might follow the wisdom of the Earth, and that we might learn the ways of reciprocity. Amen. - Wendy Janzen God, our Provider,
We praise you for pollinators, for the many beings who are indispensable in bringing food to our tables - birds, bats, beetles, butterflies and bees… Bless native plants - their flowering, fruiting, and feeding of this ecosystem. Bless species at risk: rusty-patched and yellow-banded bumble bees. Bless our attempts to partner in the restoration and health of this land. Bless the web of life, our deep connections, our interdependence, our giving and receiving. 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 Wild, Incarnate Christ,
Light of Life - the sun has reached its zenith and we can feel the heat in our bodies. As we stand on the cusp of this sweltering season we give thanks and praise for the gifts of summer - vibrancy and radiance, fruitfulness and playfulness, embodiment and freedom. Open us to the ways you are manifest in creation, Your presence alive and tangible so that we may know you to be here among us not only through head and heart, but also through our bodies. Like plants stretching toward the sun, may we reach for you, as the Source of all being. Enliven us and inspire us as children of the light to grow in maturity, passion, and fullness. Amen. - Wendy Janzen Creator of all,
Christ who walks with us, Spirit enlivening us: As we move more deeply into relationship with you and with the entirety of the created world, open our hearts to new ways of being and our minds to greater understanding of our place in the world. Transform any notions of self-centredness into community-mindedness, and expand our sense of community to include all creation. May we fall in love with our more-than-human neighbours and understand that our needs and wellbeing are intertwined with theirs, our very flesh and breath entangled with a billion others. Move us to see your presence and wisdom revealed in the intricacy of everything around us. Fill us with compassion to live lives that extend benevolence to all life. Amen. - Wendy Janzen |
AuthorReflections, poetry, prayers, and resources written by Wendy Janzen and occasional guests. Archives
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