Prayer for the World, Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Climate Pilgrimage
Introduction:
As we continue to celebrate the 2023 Season of Creation which concludes on October 4th, we might consider the following way to vision what we are all experiencing.
Everywhere the planet is changing. Land once known for certain weather patterns, flora, and fauna is becoming strange and unfamiliar. Ways of life forged from old patterns are crumbling. Communities scramble to find new ways to farm, fish, graze, and live in what increasingly feels like uncharted territory.
Mantra: “O Holy One” by Jan Novotka on Youtube.com
O Holy One Rise Up, in the World. Awake from sleep, arise from your slumber in Earth, from the deep. This is the hour to Rise.
O Holy One within my soul. Awake in me, from the depths of my being, awake, O my Soul. This is the hour to Rise.
O Holy One in us. Awake, rise anew in Earth, every being, each creature now Rise, Holy One. This is the hour to Rise.
(Repeat first verse from above.)
Readings
“Many have taken up the language of grief and loss to guide us through this turbulent era. We long for the forests and meadows of our childhood, alive with spring peepers and monarch butterflies, which today seem diminished or have completely disappeared, paved over by strip mall and subdivisions. The land that shaped us is still there, but it’s not the same.”
“As we grieve the loss of a stable natural world, another spiritual metaphor can move us forward: pilgrimage. Christine Valters Painter writes in The Soul of a Pilgrim, “Pilgrimage calls us to be attentive to the divine at work in our lives through deep listening, patience, opening ourselves to the gifts that arise in the midst of discomfort, and going out to our own inner wild edges to explore new frontiers.”
Christine V. Paintner writes: “Pilgrimage involves several practices. We let go of habits, attitudes, and items that no longer serve us. We discern what is essential and only bring those things. We learn to live in the liminal space between what is gone and what is yet to come. We make the way by walking. We live with discomfort. We begin again and again. We embrace the unknown.”
Whether we like it or not, we are all on a climate journey. We can cling to the familiar, or we can choose courage, clarity, and transformation. We can choose to set out on climate pilgrimage. If we do, God will meet us in unanticipated ways, every step along the path. (Taken from SOJOURNERS, August, 2023)
Quiet Reflection: 20 minutes
Prayers of Intercession:
Creating God, as we continue to pray for the care of creation we pray to you in faith: God, in your justice, hear our prayer
Give us a deep sense of communion with all of creation, we pray
Unite people in efforts to reduce waste, clean waters, and protect forests, we pray …
Give peace and security to migrants, immigrants and refugees, we pray …
Help us to restore cleanliness to air and waters polluted by war and abuse, we pray ….
Give our elected leaders reverence for life, compassion for the vulnerable and good zeal for service, we pray …
Help us to speak with respect and to listen with curiosity, reverence, and interest, we pray …..
Prosper the work of climate change education and practices, we pray …
Let us Pray: God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth. God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness and convey your mercy throughout our common home. Amen
Quiet Reflection: 15 minutes
Mantra: O Holy One
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