14th October 2022
Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and not we are ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3
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: Deuteronomy 11: 11-17
But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.
We do not presume to walk on this earth,
O merciful Lord,
trusting in our own righteousness,
but in your manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthy so much
as to gather up the leftover grains
nor glean the fruits fallen from your trees –
But you are the same Lord,
whose property is always to have mercy:
Grant us therefore, gracious Lord,
so to live where you plant us,
that we may work in harmony with nature
and share your rich harvest with all.
Amen
Thank you God for trees and fruit, herbs and grasses
Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness,
we have cut down forests and burnt the scrub,
when we have prioritised monoculture and marginalised diversity,
when we have drained rivers and aquifers
favouring cash crops over native plants.
Remake our hearts and minds
and so restore our way of living.
Thank you God for birds of the air,
the creatures of the land and the fish of the sea.
Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness,
we have promoted our own livestock and made refugees of the native wildlife,
when we enlarged our own living space and made other creatures homeless.
Remake our hearts and minds
and so restore our way of living.
Thank you God for soil and water and the fresh air we breathe.
Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness
we take from the soil but do not give back,
when we pollute the waters with waste we do not want,
when we fill the air with an excess of greenhouse gases.
Remake our hearts and minds
and so restore our way of living.
Thank you God for our brothers and sisters, our kith and kin
Forgive us when through greed and thoughtlessness
we rob them of their livelihoods,
when we divert their wealth into our pockets,
when we ignore their pleas for help.
Remake our hearts and minds
and so restore our way of living.
Lord God, as you made us in your image, that we might live with you
and, as your Son took on our form that he might live among us,
you have shown us how to live.
Remake our hearts and minds
and so restore our way of living.
Amen.
The Green Tau 