Lenten Prayers for Creation
Week 4: Confess Scripture: Jeremiah 4:22-26 My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.” I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone. I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away. I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger. Prayer: Confession and Lament for Creation Rev. Allyson Sawtell Oh God of time and space We confess we are running out of both. Species whirling into extinction faster than ever before. Habitat created over millennia destroyed in the blink of an eye Sea levels rising, threatening, moving closer and the poor and the brown and the voiceless taste the bitter salt Oh God of time and space, we confess we are running out of both. Oh God of hope and Resurrection, We confess to despair that creates the denial of a Good Friday world. We tremble on the brink of the temptation to simply give up. Oh God of transformation, we confess to choosing Business as Usual because it is easier because it hurts too much to care because we don’t want to give up what we have. because we are afraid. Oh God of deep sighing, these are our prayers. And we know it is not only from you we need to ask forgiveness, but from all your creation You polar bears Forgive us, we pray You coral reefs Forgive us, we pray You Black Rhino and Green Turtle Forgive us, we pray You Monarch butterfly, Ivory-Billed woodpecker, Gray Wolf Forgive us, we pray Oh air that we breathe, oceans that give us life, mountaintops of Appalachia, Forgive us, we pray Remake us, oh Creator. Transform us into a new being. Open us to your love which can open our eyes and our hearts. Give us courage to walk in your path with all creation. Forgive us and make us free, for healing and for hope. Reading: Forgive Us, For We Know Not What We Do Christine Penner Polle Spiritual Practice: “True sustainability means transcending a narrow calculation of self-interest and weighing the effect of our actions on a larger scale, seeking right relationship to the wider community, and ultimately the Earth community” (Quaker Earthcare Witness website). Take some time each day to ponder and confess the effects of your actions on the wider community and on the Earth. |