• Home
  • About
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Reflections & Prayers
BURNING BUSH FOREST CHURCH
  • Home
  • About
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Reflections & Prayers

Rewilding our Souls

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

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

Day of Prayer for All Creation

9/1/2022

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

Camping Prayer

5/29/2022

0 Comments

 

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
0 Comments

Part of something bigger

4/29/2022

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

Epiphany Bessing

1/6/2022

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

Climate Prayer

11/6/2021

0 Comments

 
​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
0 Comments

Pollinator Prayer

8/1/2021

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

Sinking

7/21/2021

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

Summer Solstice Prayer

6/19/2021

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    Reflections, poetry, prayers, 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!

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018

    categories

    All
    Advent Prayers
    Autumn
    Blessings
    Confession
    Lament
    Lent Prayers
    Poetry
    Prayers General
    Psalms
    Reflections
    Spiritual Practice
    Spring
    Summer
    Thanksgiving
    Wild Lectionary
    Winter

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Reflections & Prayers