Season of Creation September 8, 2021 - Week 2: Earth Altars

7:00pm EST
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507551772

Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: +1 646 558 8656

Opening Song: When Jacob Awoke, Christopher Grundy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AlxuNkcZdw

When Jacob awoke, with the sky overhead

And his head on a stone, he said,

“Surely the Holy One’s here in this place

And I just didn’t know it till now.

This is none other than the house of God.

This is the gate of heaven,

The gate of heaven.”

Opening Prayer 

Creator of All, 

We are grateful that from your communion of love you created our planet to be a home for all. By your Holy Wisdom you made the Earth to bring forth a diversity of living beings that filled the soil, water and air. Each part of creation praises you in their being, and cares for one another from our place in the web of life. 

With the Psalmist, we sing your praise. We remember that you call human beings to keep your garden in ways that honor the dignity of each creature and conserve their place in the abundance of life on Earth. 

But we know that our will for power pushes the planet beyond her limits. Our consumption is out of harmony and rhythm with Earth’s capacity to heal herself. Habitats are left barren or lost. Species are lost and systems fail. Where reefs and burrows, mountaintops and ocean deeps once teemed with life and relationships, wet and dry deserts lie empty, as if uncreated. Human families are displaced by insecurity and conflict, migrating in search of peace. Animals flee fires, deforestation and famine, wandering in search of a new place to find a home to lay their young and live. 

In this Season of Creation, we pray that the breath of your creative Word would move our hearts, as in the waters of our birth and baptism. Give us faith to follow Christ to our just place in the beloved community. Enlighten us with the grace to respond to your covenant and call to care for our common home. In our tilling and keeping, gladden our hearts to know that we participate with your Holy Spirit to renew the face of your Earth, and safeguard a home for all. 

We ask this in the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus the Christ. 

Amen.

Psalm 19: From Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill

The heavens declare the glory of the creator; 

the firmament proclaims 

the handiwork of love. 

Day to day speech pours forth 

and night to night knowledge is revealed.

There is no speech, 

nor are there words; 

their voice is not heard;

Yet does their music resound 

through all the earth,

 and their words echo to 

the ends of the world.

Reflection: Our reflection is a short video on creating Earth Altars by Laura Loesher

 https://vimeo.com/498490982

Earth Altars by Laura Loescher - Origin Story from Earth Altars by Laura Loescher on Vimeo.

Closing Prayer:  Let us join our hearts and minds together and think of all creation and the Creator’s gifts. 

We give our thanks. 

For our Mother, the Earth, upon whom we walk and who supports us and nurtures life in all its forms, we pray that we can learn to walk on her with more respect. 

We give our thanks. 

For all of the animals and plants that call this place home,

We give our thanks. 

For the whole human family whose livelihood and well-being depends on the well-being of the Earth,

We give our thanks. 

For the sacred waters of the world, and the life that lives in the waters,

We give our thanks. 

For the plant life of the world, both below and above ground, 

We give our thanks. 

For our kindred animals, those that crawl, walk, swim and fly, 

We give our thanks. 

Amen.