Friday 29th April 2022
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. Psalm 24:1
You Lord, are the source of all good things:
We praise you.
You call us to tend and care for your creation:
May we strive to do your will.
You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:
May we live together in peace.
A Reading Ephesians 2:8-10 (The Living Bible)
Because of God’s kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago God prepared that we should spend these lives in helping others.
To conclude the series we started in Lent, today’s prayers focus on Europe.
Europe is the western peninsula of the “supercontinent” of Eurasia and is is divided from Asia by a series of watersheds, including the Ural River. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas to the south. Europe has been a dominant economic, social, and cultural force throughout recorded history, exerting influence (for good and ill) beyond its own territories. The North European Plain extends from the southern United Kingdom east to Russia. It is crossed by many navigable rivers, including the Rhine, Weser, Elbe, Oder, and Vistula. The climate supports a wide variety of seasonal crops. These physical features allowed for early communication, travel, and agricultural development. The Central Uplands extend east-west and are heavily wooded. They are lower in altitude than the Alpine region to the south. This region includes a few active volcanoes. The continents forests were drastically reduced as a result of intense urbanisation throughout human history. Intense trade introduced many species, which often overtook native plants. The forests and grasslands of western and central Europe have been almost completely domesticated, with crops and livestock dominant. Today, around 15 percent of Europes animal species are threatened or endangered, mainly by habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation, and competition from invasive species. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/europe-physical-geography/
Glory to God,
Creator of rivers and streams, lakes and mountains.
We praise you for the majesty of the Alps, their glittering snowy peaks
and the frozen waters stored in their glaciers.
Glory to God,
Creator of forests and plains:
We thank you for the vast lands where we can grow crops, for hillsides where we grow vines, and for meadows where sheep and cattle may graze.
Glory to God
Creator of rocks and minerals:
We thank you for the wealth of raw materials with which we can make so much;
we thank you for fast flowing waters that provide us with energy.
Glory to God,
Creator of curiosity and ingenuity:
We thank you for the wisdom we have learnt from the study of your world; thank you for the skills we have learnt in harnessing the resources you have given us.
Forgive us when we have misused that wisdom; forgive us when we have used those skills for ill.
Merciful God,
Creator of human kind,
Forgive our greed that has mined land and sea for fossil fuels, jeopardising our future.
Forgive our greed that industrialises farming, destroying soils and draining lakes.
Forgive our greed that turns animals into commodities and disregards their sentient nature.
Forgive our greed for consumer goods that strips the earth’s reserves.
Merciful God,
Creator of our brothers and sisters:
Forgive the casualness with which we let the rich grow richer
and the poor poorer.
Forgive the casualness with which we let the rich break the laws
and yet still penalise the poor.
Forgive the carelessness with which we discard what we buy
ignoring the meagre pay of those who labour.
Guiding God,
Source of all wisdom,
Transform our hearts and minds, turn the direction of our hands and feet
so that with alacrity and commitment we will reform our lives
and live only in harmony with your creation.
Amen.
The Grace
The Green Tau 