Prayers for Australia, Puerto Rico and Earth Devastation
Elder Nancy Maxwell
Holy One,
We come to you seeking repentance for our selfishness
For our dependency on lifestyles that foul your beautiful creation
Which have led to the disastrous change in our climate
Now fueling horrific wildfires in the astonishing land of Australia,
Killing all your sentient beings in the fires’ path.
We pray for rain, for healing, for comfort
Yet we continue living a life of consumption and contribution
To the situation we pray to alleviate.
We confess we continue to use fossil fuels.
We stock our homes with plastics.
We tear off hundreds of plastic bags at the grocery store
To carry our purchases
Fully knowing the bags will not deteriorate for 1000 years.
We blithefully stick another plastic straw in our drinks.
We seem unmoved by the death we cause of sea birds, fish and water mammals,
Their bellies filled with plastic.
We, only we, are the cause of the desperate plight of the earth.
We, only we, can confess our participation in this devastation.
We, only we, can change the course of this downward spiral of earthly degradation.
Hear our confession, change our hearts, mobilize our energies,
So that we, only we, can accept our personal responsibility
And, as required of confession,
Move us to change our ways, cleanse our hearts,
Turn our comfortable ways into excruciating uncomfortableness
So that we might be in the proper place for receiving forgiveness-
A place of changed behavior and changed hearts.
Amen.
