Prayers of the People: Up a Tree, 24th Sunday after Pentecost Yr C

For Sunday, October 30, 2016, 24^th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, Readings: Isaiah 1:10-18, Psalm 32:1-8, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-14,11-12; Luke 19:1-10

...cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.  [Isaiah 1:16b-17]

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble, you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. [Psalm 32:7]

We must always give thanks to God for you...because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. [2 Thessalonians 1:3b]

Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." [Luke 19:9-10]

        I was very fortunate as a child to know two of my great-grandmothers. One of them lived with her "spinster" daughter in a small home that had a parlor with a Victorian settee, lace doily and all - I don't recall that I ever did more than peek into that room. Usually we were in the kitchen when we visited. But I remember clearly there was a framed print on the wall in the small and darkened formal dining room that said: Christ is the Head of this House, the unseen Guest at every meal, the Silent Listener to every conversation. And I remember being afraid of that room because of that plaque, it was very creepy to me as a child to think of the Unseen Guest Listening.  Many years later, when my spinster great-aunt passed away, I asked for and was given that print that I still have tucked away. It's fragile and crumbling and I hadn't thought of it in a long time until I began working with this set of readings. 
        My first thought always when I read the story of Zacchaeus is - what was Mrs. Zacchaeus thinking? Did she give him that look - you know the one, seriously, THIS guy for dinner, and he invited himself? I'm sure she already knew what the neighbors were thinking being less than the popular couple on the block because of her husband's job. Yet here is Jesus calling Zacchaeus out of the tree - to the chorus of nay-sayers and finger-pointers (glad I've never been one of them, well, sort of, mostly not, well, ok, maybe once in a rare while) and telling him Salvation has come to this house...the Son of Man came to seek out to save the lost. Did Zacchaeus think he was lost? How about the grumblers, did they think they were lost? It's much easier for me to point to the other as lost without knowing or accepting when I am lost. Yet in those most lost moments, I cry out to God in despair. I want some kind of magic fix-it, right now! But as I read the words of the Psalmist that God is a hiding place, I remember the Unseen Guest, not as a scary shadow, but a Companion in every moment of the highs, the lows, and the ordinary moments of life. If I remember, then I will be more able to be a better person, point fingers far less often, and work for the betterment of others before myself as Isaiah tells us. If I remember, I will have fewer of the kinds of conversations I wouldn't want Jesus to hear. If I remember, I might realize that I can work to grow my own faith through seeing Christ in others first, and to love even the unlovable (including myself). God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are within us all. We need only remember to reach out in prayer and through all we do in each moment of life. Jesus may be Unseen, but he's always there, even when we're up a tree.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ LORD of Hope and Promise, as You know us better than we know ourselves, guide us to seek and recognize You in others, to find You living deep within us, and to learn to rescue, defend, and plead with more fervor for others than for ourselves.

                                                Forgiving God

RESPONSE:             Preserve us from trouble

~ LORD of Hope and Promise, search again the hearts of us all, especially those who lead in governments globally and locally. Instruct us all in the ways of Christ’s peace, that together we may find the path where peace will grow and spread beyond all barriers and borders. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Forgiving God

                                                Preserve us from trouble

~ LORD of Hope and Promise, lay Your healing hand upon those weary of the pain, anguish, or fears of this life, and hold fast to those who offer caring help. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

                                                Forgiving God

                                                Preserve us from trouble

           

~ LORD of Hope and Promise, lighten the darkness for the grieving, as our loved ones return Home to the eternal splendor and glory of new life in Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Forgiving God

                                                Preserve us from trouble

~ LORD of Hope and Promise, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

                                                Forgiving God

                                                Preserve us from trouble

           

~ LORD of Hope and Promise, bestow courage and confidence upon those anointed to call us to Your holy table, that our worship may be true, faithful, and pleasing to You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Forgiving God

                                                Preserve us from trouble

The Celebrant adds:  Lord of Creation, Salvation, and Wisdom, grow our faith abundantly and increase our ability to love one another as we are loved by You. Grant us the grace to embody Your Presence and to serve the world together in Your name. We ask through Jesus our Christ, and the Holy Spirit, our Counselor, who together with You are One God, now and forever.  Amen.

        

Requests for prayers or meditations for this space or private use may be sent to Leeosophy@gmail.com. All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.

Prayers of the People: Our World at Peace, 4th Sunday in the Season of Creation '16

For Sunday, October 30, 2016, Our World at Peace, Season of Creation IV***, Readings: Thomas Merton*, Psalm 139:1-10, Prayer of St. Francis**, Luke 19:1-10

If you yourself are at peace,
then there is at least some peace in the world.
~ Thomas Merton

Peace is not something you fight for...It is indeed "fighting for peace" that starts all the wars.  [Thomas Merton*]

Lord make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love...
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. 
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life. [The Prayer of St. Francis**]

O Lord, you have searched me out and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.  [Psalm 139:1-2]

"Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost." [Luke 19:9-10]

        How powerful are the words of Thomas Merton - peace is not something you fight for...fighting for peace...starts all the wars - given the current context of life in this time.  And no less powerful are the following readings requesting that we are made into instruments of God's peace, that we are known by God in all that we do and are not separate but held fast. 

        This reading from Luke's Gospel always makes me think of Mrs. Zacchaeus - can't you imagine the scene: "You invited WHO for dinner, are you nuts?" And of course we are told that the bystanders watching Jesus call Zacchaeus out of the tree to take him home to dinner are all so pompous and arrogant about Jesus as a guest of a sinner. Who among us hasn't thrown a similar verbal stone? Yet Jesus bestows salvation on the house of Zacchaeus. Is it because Zacchaeus has pledged to right all financial wrongs? We don't know. But we do know that Jesus came to seek out and save the lost. Maybe Zacchaeus knew he himself was lost. Maybe the ones who were grumbling didn't know that they, too, were lost. Let us find and be found by Jesus, seek peace within ourselves to share, and sow love, faith, and hope in a world too ready to fight.  

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ O God, Divine Master, as You know us better than we know ourselves, guide us to seek and recognize You in others, to find You living deep within us, and to learn to pray with more fervor for others than we pray for ourselves.

                                    Lord of Love and Hope

RESPONSE:              Make us agents of Your peace

~ O God, Divine Master, search again the hearts of us all, especially those who lead in governments globally and locally. Quell the ego-need to fight for or against peace, and lead us to the path within, where peace will grow and spread beyond all barriers and borders. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                    Lord of Love and Hope

                                    Make us agents of Your peace

~ O God, Divine Master, lay Your healing hand upon those weary of the pain, anguish, or fears of this life, and hold fast to those who offer caring help. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need…add your own petitions

                                    Lord of Love and Hope

                                    Make us agents of Your peace

~ O God, Divine Master, lighten the darkness for the grieving, as our loved ones return Home to the eternal splendor and glory of new life in Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                    Lord of Love and Hope

                                    Make us agents of Your peace

~ O God, Divine Master, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud… add your own petitions

                                    Lord of Love and Hope

                                    Make us agents of Your peace

~ O God, Divine Master, bestow courage and confidence upon those anointed to call us to Your holy table, that we may partake of Your spiritual food, and serve the world together, in Your name. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

The Celebrant adds: Lord of Creation, Salvation, and Wisdom, grant us the grace to embody Your Presence through consoling, loving, giving, and pardoning for all who know they are lost, and for all who believe that they are not. May we be born to eternal life in the death of selfishness. We ask through Jesus, our Christ, and the Holy Spirit, our Counselor, who together with You are One God, now and forever. Amen.

*A reading from Thomas Merton — Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (Doubleday, 1966, p 181)

Peace is not something you fight for. Perhaps peace is not, after all, something you work for, or “fight for.”  It is indeed “fighting for peace” that starts all the wars. What, after all, are the pretexts of all these Cold War crises, but “fighting for peace”?  Peace is something you have or you do not have. If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least *some* peace in the world. Then you share your peace with everyone, and everyone will be at peace. Of course I realize that arguments like this can be used as a pretext for passivity, for indifferent acceptance of every iniquity. Quietism leads to war as surely as anything does. But I am not speaking of quietism, because quietism is not peace, nor is it the way to peace.

**Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

***for more information on the Season of Creation and the Earth Charter see:  http://prayersofthepeople.blogspot.com/2016/10/prayers-of-people-very-beginning-1st.html

Requests for prayers or meditations for this space or private use may be sent to Leeosophy@gmail.com. All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.

Prayers of the People: Proud of Your Humility? 23rd Sunday after Pentecost Yr C

For Sunday, October 23, 2016, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, Readings: Jeremiah 14:(1-6) 7-10, 19-22, Psalm 84:1-6, 2 Timothy4:6-8, 16-18, Luke 18:9-14

Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not forsake us...We set our hope on you... [Jeremiah 14:9b, 22b]

How lovely is your dwelling place...Happy are those whose strength is in you... [Ps 84:1, 5a]

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [2 Timothy 4:7]

I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted. [Luke 18:14]

        Jeremiah continues to ease the gloom and doom by reminding us that God is in our midst and calls us by name. I can imagine that voice all along the route of my life and, when I am finally at the Finish Line of my racing while human, cheering me on. Timothy assures us that the Lord stands by us even though others desert us, but he also asks that those who didn't come to his aid not have their rejection counted against them. Even in Luke, Jesus tells the disciples that those who put themselves above us in the pride of their spiritual accomplishment, will not be as justified as we who are humble in the recognition of our own sins. Sounds great but humility is difficult to achieve. Once you think you have it, you've lost it in that instant! The lovely dwelling place of God is our ultimate destination and the Psalmist reminds us that we who find our strength in God are happy. As I continue the race through life, I must relinquish marking milestones and simply keep putting one foot in front of the other, making each breath a prayer. When I listen for the still, small voice that calls my name, I can rest in the knowing that the Lord rescues me when I fall. I hope that I can find humility by not knowing if I have. It seems to me that Jesus doesn't want us to be proud of being humble.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ God Most Merciful, expand our capacity to hear Your call and keep our faith strong all along the race of human life, to the finish in Eternal Life. Free our minds from earthly distraction as we strive to make each breath a prayer.

                                                Lord of our Souls

RESPONSE:                     Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, bolster our willingness to challenge the leaders of this world, this nation, and this community, and all who would lead, to remove the causes of violence, to conserve the resources of this planet, and to provide care for all of Your people. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, we implore You to feed all who are hungry, calm all who are in fear, and heal all who are suffering in any part of life. Comfort and care for those who serve. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, liberate those hearts bowed down in grief as our loved ones now glow in the ultimate loveliness of life in Your eternal dwelling place. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud… add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, deepen the faith of those whose earthly intentions and endeavors guide us to know You better, and encourage our own faithfulness on the pathway to You.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

The Celebrant adds: Loving Lord, sustain us in our struggle to live humbly in Your sight, to free ourselves from the sin of self-promotion, and to unite ourselves with You by the overflowing of Your love within us. We ask through Christ Jesus, our Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, who together with You are One God in Glory, forever and ever.  Amen.               

Requests for prayers or meditations for this space or private use may be sent to Leeosophy@gmail.com. All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.

Prayers of the People: Our Common Humanity, 3rd Sunday in the Season of Creation '16

For Sunday, October 23, 2016, Season of Creation III****, Readings: Mother Teresa*, Psalm 146 by Thomas Norris**, Paradise Now, The Living Theater***; 
Luke 18:9-14

 [W]e need much prayer, the kind that unites us with God and overflows continually upon others. ~ Mother Teresa

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!*

whose hope is in the Lord their God... ~ Psalm 146:5

What do you want? To make the world glow with creation...To feed all the people...To remove the causes of violence....To re-invent love...To stop distorting the mind of the people...To break down the walls that alienate...To get to know God...To make the destination clear. ~ Paradise Now

I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves shall be exalted. ~ Luke 18:14

        In a word: GLOBAL. There is no escaping it. We are truly bound up in each other's humanity next door, next state, next country, around the globe. While there are many voices claiming to dislike the term "global", anyone who eats food from a grocery store, buys anything from Walmart or Macy's, and especially from a store where everything is a dollar, is contributing to, participating in, and benefiting from the Global economy. We also often hear that we must keep fighting for peace. Mystic/Monk Thomas Merton tells us in his "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander" that ...fighting for peace...starts all the wars. Peace is something you have or you do not have. If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. Of course it is always easier to say that sharing peace is a way to achieve peace, but it is true that calm often begets calm while anger escalates a problem. Both are contagious - which would you rather spread across our common humanity? No path is completely safe but neither is hiding behind walls. Let us stop wasting the planet and work together to break down the walls that alienate and get to know God and each other. It's the only way to reinvent love and to make the world glow with creation. Let us also work on exalting the other in our midst, rather than ourselves.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ God Most Merciful, re-invent and expand our capacity to love You and one another. Free our minds from earthly distraction and distortion as we strive to make each breath a prayer.

                            Lord of our Souls

RESPONSE:     Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, bolster our willingness to challenge the leaders of this world, this nation, and this community, and all who would be, to seek to remove causes of violence, to stop wasting the resources of this planet, and to break down the walls that alienate us from one another and from You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, we implore You to feed all who are hungry, calm all who are in fear, and heal all who are suffering in any part of life. Comfort and care for those who serve. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, liberate those hearts bowed down in grief as our loved ones now glow in the ultimate loveliness of life in Your eternal dwelling place. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud… add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

~ God Most Merciful, deepen the faith of those whose earthly intentions and endeavors guide us to know You better, and encourage our own faithfulness on the pathway to You.  We pray especially for:add your own petitions

                                                Lord of our Souls

                                                Our hope and strength are in You

The Celebrant adds: Loving Lord, sustain us in our struggle to live humbly in Your sight, to free ourselves from the sin of self-promotion, and to unite ourselves with You by the overflowing of Your love within us. We ask through Christ Jesus, our Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, who together with You are One God in Glory, forever and ever.  Amen.

*A READING FROM THE WORD OF MOTHER THERESA

Whether you are a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian, how you live your life is the proof that you are fully God's or not. Loving must be as normal to us as living and breathing, day after day until death. To understand this and practice it we need much prayer, the kind that unites us with God and overflows continually upon others. Our works of charity are nothing but the overflow of our love of God from within. Therefore, the one who is most united with God loves her neighbor most.    

From Everything Starts With Prayer, White Cloud Press, Ashland, OR, 1998

**PSALM 146   Anglican Chant by Thomas Norris

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul!*

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth,*

for there is no help in them.

When they breathe their last, they return to earth,*

and in that day their thoughts perish.

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!*

whose hope is in the Lord their God;

Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;*

who keeps his promise for ever;

Who gives justice to those who are oppressed,*

And food to those who hunger.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;*

the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

The Lord loves the righteous;

the Lord cares for the stranger;*

The Lord sustains the orphan and widow,

but frustrates the way of the wicked.

The Lord shall reign for ever, *

Your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Hallelujah!

*** from Paradise Now, The Living Theatre   by Judith Malina and Julian Beck

"What do you want?"

To make the world glow with creation.

To make life irresistible.

To feed all the people.

To change the demonic forces into the celestial.

To remove the causes of violence.

To do useful work.

To work for the love of it and not for the money.

To live without the police.

To change myself.

To get rid of the class system.

To re-invent love.

To make each moment creative.

To be free of the force of the State.

To be free to create.

To get rid of a life of material greed.

To free all the energy wasted in financial transaction.

To cut all the bureaucratic wasted time out of life.

To free humanity from armies.

To stop distorting the mind of the people.

To stop crippling the human body with frustration.

To learn how to breath.

To live longer than we do.

To be free of the system.

To get rid of central control.

To supply what we need

To seek what we desire.

To stop wasting the planet.

To stop dying of competition.

To break down the walls that alienate.

To get to know God.

To make the destination clear.

****for more information on the Season of Creation and the Earth Charter see: http://prayersofthepeople.blogspot.com/2016/10/prayers-of-people-very-beginning-1st.html




Requests for prayers or meditations for this space or private use may be sent to Leeosophy@gmail.com. All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.

Prayers of the People: Our Living Planet, 2nd Sunday in the Season of Creation '16

For Sunday, October 16, 2016, 2nd Sunday in the Season of Creation***, Readings: Daniel 3:74-81 [New American Bible], Psalm 8*, Chief Seattle**, Luke 18:1-8   

“… Each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country. Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal. We are moved by a sense of joy and exhilaration when the grass turns green and the flowers bloom. That spiritual and physical oneness we all share with this common homeland.” ~Nelson Mandela

Let the earth bless the Lord, praise and exalt God above all forever! [Daniel 3:74 New American Bible]

Lord, our God, the whole world tells the greatness of your name.

Your glory reaches beyond the stars.

Even the babble of infants declares your strength,

your power to halt the enemy and avenger.

I see your handiwork in the heavens:

The moon and the stars you set in place. [Psalm 8, Liturgy Training Publications, see below]

       The air is very precious to us, the air shares its spirit with all the life it support. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the children of earth. This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. [Chief Seattle, see below]

       And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?...And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" [Luke 18:6-7, 8]

       On this Second Sunday in the Season of Creation***, we take time to celebrate Mother Earth, our temporal home. There is plenty to be concerned about in the life of our fragile island home, but today is about joy, and blessing, and exultation. Tomorrow let us return and be as persistent as the widow in the parable of the unjust judge seeking restoration, refreshment, and renewal for our planet. In the parable, a widow, poor and the lowest of the low, keeps bothering the judge seeking a resolution to her claim, continually coming and wearing him out until he finally concedes and gives her the settlement that she wants. Let us now breathe deeply and extol the virtue of this beautiful country of earth, revel in God's handiwork and marvel in the magnificence of this habitation. Then we shall return to the work of faith, seeking justice for the Earth, the Universe, and all that lives therein.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Lord God, Constant Creator, renew our wonder and restore our ability to marvel at the scope of Your handiwork in the heavens and on the Earth. Refresh our willingness to conserve, rather than expend, our planet’s resources, and the wisdom to protect all of her inhabitants – animal, vegetable, and mineral.

                                                O God, our God

RESPONSE:             We praise and exalt You forever     

~ Lord God, Constant Creator, awaken awareness of our individual and communal responsibility to be the persistent conscience for the leaders of this world, our nation, and our community, in the preservation and enhancement of Your sacred realm for all generations to come. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                O God, our God

                                                We praise and exalt You forever

                                               

~ Lord God, Constant Creator, grant healing and hope to all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, and revive the energy and dedication of all who serve their needs. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

                                                O God, our God

                                                We praise and exalt You forever

           

~ Lord God, Constant Creator, Your holy wind gives first breath to our loved ones and receives their last earthly sigh. We take divine comfort in Your heavenly and eternal welcome for all whose footsteps on this earth and in our hearts will never disappear. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                O God, our God

                                                We praise and exalt You forever

~ Lord God, Constant Creator, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

                                                O God, our God

                                                We praise and exalt You forever

           

~ Lord God, Constant Creator, enrich the souls of all who bring us to Your Word and Sacraments, and enfold their hearts in Your peace. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                O God, our God

                                                We praise and exalt You forever

                                                                                                        

The Celebrant adds: Holy God, Master of all Creation, today we celebrate the glory of our temporal Home. Tomorrow, help us to participate in its regeneration and its progress for the benefit of this web of life that is precious to all. We ask through Jesus, Son of Man, and the Holy Spirit, the Breath of Life, who together with You are One God, above all, forever and ever. Amen.    

* Psalm 8
Lord, our God, the whole world tells the greatness of your name.

Your glory reaches beyond the stars.

Even the babble of infants declares your strength,

your power to halt the enemy and avenger.

I see your handiwork in the heavens:

The moon and the stars you set in place.

What is humankind that you remember them,

the human race that you care for them?

You treat them like gods, dressing them in glory and splendor.

You give them charge of the earth, laying all at their feet: cattle and sheep, wild beasts,

birds of the sky, fish of the sea,

every swimming creature.

Lord our God, the whole world tells the greatness of your name.

From The Psalter: A faithful and inclusive rendering, Liturgy Training Publications (International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc.), 1994.

**A READING FROM CHIEF SEATTLE

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shiny pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people. We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and humanity, all belong to the same family. The rivers are our brother. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give to any brother. The air is very precious to us, the air shares its spirit with all the life it support. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the children of earth. This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. One thing we know: our God is also your god. The earth is precious to god and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your waste. Excerpts from a speech to the President of the United States, attributed to Chief Seattle, Duwamish Tribe, 1855

***for more information on the Season of Creation and the Earth Charter see: http://prayersofthepeople.blogspot.com/2016/10/prayers-of-people-very-beginning-1st.html

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