ECO-SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer has a chapter called ‘The Gift of Strawberries.’  She writes, "Strawberries first shaped my view of a world full of gifts simply scattered at your feet. A gift comes to you through no action of your own, free, having moved toward you without your beckoning. It is not a reward; you cannot earn it, or call it to you, or even deserve it. And yet it appears. Your only role is to be open-eyed and present.  Gifts exist in a realm of humility and mystery – as with random acts of kindness, we do not know their source." (p 23-24)

Reading
“The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:12

Practice
During strawberry season, set aside some time to savour a locally grown strawberry. (This practice can be done with other locally grown fruit or vegetables in season.) If you can, pick it yourself. If not, enjoy one from the market or a friend's garden. Hold it gently and reverently in your hands. Pause to give thanks for it – thanks to God and thanks to the plant, the soil, the rain, the sun. Examine its shape and rich colour. Smell it. Feel its texture and delicate skin. Finally, take a bite and taste it. Savour it slowly, enjoying the juicy sweetness.

Reflection
Take time to reflect on and appreciate the gift of this strawberry. Consider how it connects you to the land on which it grew. Consider how it offers both nourishment and pleasure. Consider how, once you ate it, it became part of you. If you wish, spend some time journaling your reflections, or honouring the experience by offering a prayer, writing a poem, painting a picture, etc.

Blessing
Blessed be the earth for providing this gift.
Blessed be the sun for helping it to grow.
Blessed be the wind and birds for carrying its seeds.
Blessed be the rain for watering its roots. 
Blessed be God, giver of all good gifts.

​- 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

Self-Guided Summer Solstice Prayer Walk
June 2020

Find a place to walk in nature, preferably in the evening when you can enjoy the long evening on this longest day of the year. Read through the full document before you go, so you have an idea of the flow. (You may want to bring a water bottle with you.)

Begin by grounding yourself: take a few deep breaths, release any tension, shake out your body, draw yourself into awareness of your surroundings; feel the earth beneath your feet, and the Divine Presence all around and within you. 

Before you start to walk, read this opening invitation.

Opening Invitation
Listen to Earth leaning closer to the sun.
to the heat breathing through gardens,
Calling plants to fruition,
Whispering fulfillment to the flowers.
Listen to the growing circle of life. 

Listen to the green sanctuary of the trees,
To young birds testing out their wings.
To bare feet and laughter, 
To Mother Earth bringing food to the table,
Listen to songs of leisure and renewal.

Listen to the summer of your soul,
To the dance of life within you,
To creativity that yearns for expression,
To the fire that burns in your spirit.
Listen to the passion of summer.

Listen to the poetry of summer, 
to the wisdom of the earth,
to the presence of God
As you walk and pray.
(adapted from a blessing by Macrina Wiederkehr)

Head out on your walk, prayerfully sauntering at a relaxed pace, aware of what you see, hear, smell, and feel. If you come upon a place that expresses brokenness in any way, stop for a prayer of confession. Pray your own confession, or use the prayer provided.


Prayer of Confession
Source of all Being, we give you thanks for our watershed, for the Grand River (or Nith River, or whichever watershed you are in), and for all of life that calls this place home--
We think of Heron and Cardinal, Beaver and Raccoon, Smallmouth Bass and Pike, Bullfrog and Turtle. We are grateful for diversity and abundance, and pray that we might be good neighbours among our community of creation. 
God, we confess that we take our natural surroundings for granted, and that for too long we have been neglectful in our disregard for our ecosystem, not thinking about the costs and consequences of our actions. Move us beyond complacency to a place of compassion and action for our environment and all who live in our watershed. Amen.

As you continue our walk, hold in prayer whatever concerns you are carrying with you, be they personal or environmental; prayers for people or for species, or for the earth itself.

If you are walking by a body of water, take a moment when you are ready to participate in a symbolic action. If you are not near water, simply choose a place to pour some water from your water bottle onto a plant or the roots of a tree.

Symbolic Action
At the water’s edge, kneel by the water, cup some water, and pour it back into the river/lake/pond, offering your prayers of concern into the body of water, knowing that God holds our prayers, and holds us, and that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.

Continue your walk with a sense of gratitude, and when you finish your walk, offer this closing blessing.

Blessing
Blessed are you, Creator of all,
Blessed are you summer,
season of long days,
bare feet, beauty, and fruitfulness.
Blessed are you, people who walk in the light,
Blessed are you, Earth who sustains us,
Blessed are you, God of the seasons.
Amen.

​- Wendy Janzen

Today would have been our May worship gathering were it not for COVID-19. As we are not able to gather in person, I offer you this spiritual practice to do out in nature - weather it is your back yard, a park, or a wilder natural area. Sensio Divina is a sacred way of sensing the Divine in nature. Below are some detailed instructions, but basically you can simply enter prayerfully into the practice with an open heart and intention to engage with God's presence wherever or however you experience it in nature. 

Sensio Divina

Preparation: Take a few moments to centre yourself by taking a few deep breaths. Cross a threshold of some sort - intentionally step over a stick or a bridge or between two trees to symbolize entering into a more enchanted and alive relationship with creation, with God, with your soul.

Wander: Allow yourself to be drawn to something (the river, the sun, a rock, the breeze?) or someone (a sparrow, a turtle, a bug, a tree?) that seems to be calling you. Don’t question or second guess. Just respond by opening your heart and your imagination and offering your full presence. Release agenda and expectations.

Listen: Don’t overthink. Wonder. Be fully attentive, and listen with an open heart. Use all your senses. Notice little things. Smell. Touch. Observe.

Share: Engage in a conversation together. Share your dreams or despair, and ask of theirs. This is a new language for you, so words sometimes don’t work. Sketch, or meditate, listening deeply, allowing images and emotions to arise. Write a poem perhaps, or sing a song. What insight comes up from this encounter that speaks to you and invites you into a larger story?

Gratitude: Offer some acknowledgement of honor and gratitude - a prayer, a bow, a smile, a touch... 

Return: Cross over the threshold again, carrying this experience with you.

- Adapted from various sources, including Victoria Loorz, Seminary of the Wild.

As we continue in this time of physical distancing and are unable to gather together for worship, here is a self-guided sunrise service you can do on Easter morning, or any other morning! 

In Advance
Check the internet as to the time of sunrise in your particular location. Locally (Waterloo Region/Wilmot Township), sunrise on Easter morning is at 6:45 a.m. Each day after that it rises approximately one minute earlier. If you want to start in the darkness and hear the birds sing their dawn chorus (if you are outdoors, or if you have a window open) you probably want to start about 30 minutes before the time of the sunrise. 

Have either a print out or an e-copy of this self-guided service. You may want to have a candle or small flashlight for a bit of light to read by. You also may wish to have a journal or art supplies for the responding time if you choose the indoor options. 


Grounding
Find yourself a comfortable east-facing location, either outdoors or indoors at a window where you have a view of the eastern horizon.

Breathe. Take time to feel your body waking up to a new day. Feel the temperature of the cool night air on your skin. Observe the quality of the pre-dawn twilight. Listen to the stillness around you, and if you are outside, to the birds welcoming the day. 

Pray: Divine Presence, Midwife of Spring: awaken us to your presence within and around us this morning. Heighten our awareness to notice you with all our senses. May we open ourselves to the mystery of this new day and be reminded that each day is a day of resurrection. Amen. 


Reading 
Rise Early, by Macrina Wiederkehr

Rise early when morning darkness still enwraps the trees.
Walk into the darkest forest with only your attentive heart.
Gaze toward the east, take a deep breath, and wait.

After a short while you will see God
Carrying a lantern through the forest,
Bits of light bobbing up and down,
In and out, higher and higher,
The light climbs, spilling over
Into the spaces between the leaves
And on into the world beyond the forest.
Than the beautiful darkness hands you over to the light.
It slips away reverently into the bark of the tree trunks,
Into the black earth,
Into all those other countries that wait for its return.

Lift your face to the daystar now.
Experience the coming of dawn.
Bathed in morning light, pray that the lantern of your life
Move gently this day into all those places
Where light is needed.


Reflecting
Watch and wait in silence for the sun to rise, for the beautiful darkness to hand you over to the light. Morning is a call to our own resurrection, and so reflect on what needs to rise in you today, or this season.


At Sunrise
Once the sun has risen, stand up, do a full body stretch with your arms reaching up to the sky and then bow to the rising sun. From a standing position, read these texts:

Matthew 18:1-6
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord , descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it...the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here: for he has been raised, as he said.”

Psalm 90:14
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love;
So that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.


Responding
Indoor options: 

• Stretch - feel into your body as you do some morning stretches. Give thanks for how your body is waking up to this new day, and practising a resurrection from the night’s sleep.
• Draw/paint the sunrise - get your creative juices flowing and record your artistic interpretation of this morning’s sunrise. 
• Write poetry
• Journal - write on the question from the reflection time: What needs to rise in you today? 

Outdoor options:

• Stretch (see above)
• Go for a walk and allow yourself to see this new day with new eyes. Walk slowly and meditatively, or energetically and joyfully. Allow the Spirit to direct you!
• Take photos of the new day, or of new life/signs of spring. 

Blessing (adapted from Joyce Rupp)
May your heart be opened wide to receive
The eternal energy of the Dawning Sun.
May the Creator’s transforming glow 
shine through every inner fiber of your body
Until you are transparent with
The power of God’s enlightening beauty.
And may the lantern of your life move 
Joyfully this day into all those places
Where light is most needed.
Amen.

​- Wendy Janzen

​As we carry a lot of anxiety and a variety of different stresses these days due to Covid-19, this spiritual practice in nature may be therapeutic. Do it whenever works in your routine, but consider doing it before Easter, perhaps on Good Friday, a day of grief and lament. 

Wound Walk (adapted from "Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche" by Bill Plotkin)

• Before you start, take a bit of time to ground yourself - take some deep breaths, release any tension your body is holding, and find a  place of prayerful calm within.
• Go for a walk, and look for something in nature that looks or feels wounded. For example, a scar on a tree, a pile of garbage, a bulldozed lot, a polluted stream, an area where an invasive species has taken over... (Or, if you can't get out, look for an image online.)
• Allow the wound you find in nature to evoke an empathetic response of sorrow or compassion in you. 
• Sit in that place, and open your senses to it. Touch it, if you can. Speak (aloud or silently) what you observe; bear witness to the wound. Imagine what may have caused it. Pay attention to your emotions.
• Now recall a past or present wound you are carrying - physical, psychological, social, or spiritual. Speak your story (aloud or silently) to this thing or place you are with. Or, think of speaking to the Divine Presence who is also with you, listening. Do not attempt to suppress any painful emotions - allow yourself to release them.
• Sit together, and when ready, start to ask questions of healing and resilience. What resources can you access to begin to find healing? In what way might your wound be of service to your future resilience? Do not worry about coming to answers, but open yourself to insights or revelations that may come.
• Close your time with a word of gratitude or prayer.
• Consider taking time to journal about your experience.

​- Wendy Janzen