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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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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. 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 -
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 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 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 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
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 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 |
AuthorReflections, poetry, prayers, photos, and resources written by Wendy Janzen unless otherwise noted. Archives
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