Friday 12th August 2022
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. Proverbs 3:5
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 lament:-
Dried up grass, withered leaves, parched earth:
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
Wilting stems, shrivelled fruit, sun-bleached petals:
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
Desiccated trees, with premature leaf fall:
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
Harden mud in the ditch, ponds reduced to a smudge:
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
The smell of ash and dust – no scent of roses now:
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
What future for frogs and toads? Will newts survive?
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
What future for caterpillars? If no caterpillars, what future for birds and butterflies?
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
What future for worm-eating birds? What future for grass-grazing rabbits?
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
What future for arable farms when the rain doesn’t fall? What future for livestock farms when fields are bare?
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
What future for humanity when reservoirs and taps run dry? What future for humanity when food is unaffordable?
My heart aches, my soul cries with pain.
A reading from Isaiah 55:1-5 (The Message)
“Hey there! All who are thirsty come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money—everything’s free! Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words. I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you, the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
To you O Lord, we turn for help! Make your ways known to us:
Embed them in our hearts.
Give and do not count the cost, be generous in every way.
Exercise leadership with diligence, show care with cheerfulness.
Gracious God, help us to hear your words.
Share one another’s burdens, remove the burden of debt.
Care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger.
Gracious God, help us to hear your words.
Do good; seek justice, correct oppression;
bring justice to the abandoned, plead the widow’s cause.
Gracious God, help us to hear your words.
Love your neighbour.
Establish governance with righteousness.
Gracious God, help us to hear your words.
Do not be greedy, foreswear dishonest gain.
Do not bear false witness.
Gracious God, help us to hear your words.
Tend and care for the soil, give the land due respite.
Tend and prune the plants; give them due respite.
Gracious God, help us to hear your words.
Care for the animals of the fields, and the wild creatures.
Have respect for every living thing.
Gracious God, help us to hear your words.
The Grace
The Green Tau 