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BURNING BUSH FOREST CHURCH
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Rewilding our Souls

Blessing for a summer morning

6/27/2024

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May the blessings of morning's freshness
awaken your spirit.

May the blessings of birdsong 
lighten your heart.

May the opening to a new day
open your soul to hope.

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Seeds & Spirit

5/21/2024

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Our May worship gathering celebrated the season of spring planting, and the miracle of seeds, along with a celebration of Pentecost. 


Listening to Spring

The first stanza is by Macrina Wiederkehr, the remaining stanzas are by Wendy Janzen. Invite participants to repeat the phrase “I am listening” at the end of each stanza.


I am listening to seeds breaking open,
to roots growing strong beneath the ground,
to green shoots rising up from winter wombs.
    I am listening.

I am listening to seeds carried on the wind,
to light-as-air fluff floating and flying,
to open soil ready to receive new life.
    I am listening.

I am listening to seeds carefully collected and sorted,
to gardeners preparing the land,
to gardens primed for us produce.
    I am listening.

I am listening to seeds of the Spirit,
to invitations for new life to rise up,
to  wild wonder and imagination and hope.
    I am listening.

​I am listening to the language of Spirit,
to voices of birds and squirrels and creek,
to messages of seeds, sun, soil, and rain.
   I am listening. 

I am listening to the Spirit of springtime,
to this season of vibrance and veriditas,
to this season of praise and promise.
    I am listening.

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Earth Day Prayer

4/22/2024

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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


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Blessing for a Solar Eclipse

4/8/2024

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-
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
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Compost prayer

9/15/2023

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A little prayer inspired by a daily chore and the mysteries that happen as my food and garden waste transforms into fertile soil.

Bless these scraps
these left behind treasures.
Bless this little pile of transformation
where death and life intermingle
and miracles happen.

​Amen.

- Wendy Janzen
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A prayer for the spring melt

3/22/2023

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God of springtime,

We thank you for the strength of the sun
warming the soil and our souls.
We rejoice at the drip, drip, drip
of ice melting off branches.
We celebrate the sweet sap rising
from a winter underground. 
We listen for the songs of feathered
travelers returning from the South. 
We even smile at snow turning 
to slush turning to mud.

Bless the world rising from its winter rest.
Bless this in between, messy time.
Bless our anticipation and our longing.
Bless the melting snow as it 
seeps deep down to roots,
bulbs and seeds, all 
ready and waiting.

As spring moves in
and winter lets go,
awaken us to new life
and melt away the 
crusty, frozen places within us.
Plant in us hope,
deep and resilient hope, 
that will rise up strong
and rooted.

Amen

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A Million Thanks

10/8/2022

 
A million thanks, Eternal One,
for all the gifts of life.
For each element, each life form,
that intersects with mine, 
I offer my deep gratitude.
For the sun, air, and clouds,
the tamaracks, maples, and willows,
thank you!
For the blue jays, crows, and geese,
the bunnies, squirrels, and fox, 
thank you!
For the moths, bees, and spiders,
the asters, sunflowers, and goldenrod,
thank you!
For the apples, squash, and carrots,
the grains, seeds, and nuts,
thank you!
For ponds, creeks, and rain,
the rocks, soil, and compost,
thank you!
For neighbours, friends, and strangers,
and all microscopic life I cannot see,
thank you!
For this community, ecosystem, home,
for this place of belonging and connection, 
and for a million other ways you
bless my life and all lives,
I am truly thankful to you, the
Ground of our being, 
Creator of all that was, 
and is, and ever shall be.
Amen.

- Wendy Janzen

An Ecological Lord's Prayer

9/15/2022

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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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Day of Prayer for All Creation

9/1/2022

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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
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Camping Prayer

5/29/2022

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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
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    Author

    Reflections, poetry, prayers, photos, 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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