Prayers – The Green Tau

Prayers for the ecosystems of South America

7th March 2026

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus Isaiah 35:1

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to cherish and protect 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: Daniel 4: 10-12

Upon my bed this is what I saw; there was a tree at the centre of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew great and strong, its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth. Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit abundant, and it provided food for all. The animals of the field found shade under it, the birds of the air nested in its branches, and from it all living beings were fed.

During Lent these prayers focus on a different continent; this week South America.

South America, the fourth-largest continent, extends from the Gulf of Darién in the northwest to the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego in the south. South America can be divided into three physical regions: mountains and highlands, river basins, and coastal plains. Mountains and coastal plains generally run in a north-south direction, while highlands and river basins generally run in an east-west direction.
South America’s extreme geographic variation contributes to the continent’s large number of biomes. A biome is a community of animals and plants that spreads over an area with a relatively uniform climate. Within a few hundred kilometres, South America’s coastal plains’ dry desert biome rises to the rugged alpine biome of the Andes mountains. One of the continent’s river basins (the Amazon) is defined by dense, tropical rain forest, while the other (Paraná) is made up of vast grasslands.
The diversity of animal life in the Amazon rain forest is unsurpassed in the rest of the world. There can be as many as 100 different tree species on a single acre. The rain forest is perfectly suited for arboreal, or tree-living, animals. More than 2 million species of insects are native to the region, including hundreds of spiders and butterflies. Primates are abundant—howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and capuchin monkeys—along with sloths, snakes, and iguanas. Thousands of native birds include brightly coloured macaws, parrots, toucans, and parakeets. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/south-america-physical-geography/

Glory to God

Creator of rivers and oceans:

We praise you for the Amazon, 1725 miles long!

Glory to God,

Creator of mountains and valleys:

We praise you for the Amazon Basin, all 2.7 million squares miles.

Glory to God,

Creator of trees and plants:

We praise you for the 40,000 plants species of the Amazon.

We praise you for biome that supports 350 millions tonnes of life per square kilometre.

Glory to God,

Creator of all that crawls and swims and flies.

We praise you for wildlife of the Amazon –

2 million species of insect, 2000 birds and mammals, 800 amphibians and reptiles.

Merciful God,

Creator of human kind,

Forgive us for the destruction of the Amazonian rainforest, 18% lost and counting.

Forgive our greed that replaces trees with cattle ranches and fields of soy for their fodder.

Forgive our greed that replaces trees with sugar cane, for sweetmeats and bio fuel.

Merciful God,

Creator of air and space,

Forgive our foolishness in destroying the source of 20% of the world’s oxygen.

Forgive our greed that gobbles up the living space of others, endangering the survival of jaguars and blue macaws, poison dart frogs and river dolphins.

Merciful God

Creator of climates and seasons,

Forgive our foolishness that creates droughts and heat waves.

Forgive our greed that fills the air with carbon dioxide and destroys carbon sinks.

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 may reform our lives

and live only in harmony with your creation.

Amen.

The Grace

Prayers for the ecology of Australasia

28th February 2026

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus Isaiah 35:1

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: Isaiah 42: 5, 10-12

Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.

Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.

Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.

These prayers during Lent focus each week on a different continent; this week Australasia.

The Australasia realm is dominated by the Australian continent and 2 additional subrealms — New Zealand and the Australasian Islands: Papua, Sulawesi, and other Indonesian islands east of the Makassar Strait and south of the Java Sea, as well as the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. Australasia encompassed a diversity of environments from the vast interior deserts of Australia, dry and wet tropical savannahs and rainforests, Mediterranean woodlands, temperate grasslands and alpine uplands. With its seven seas and immense coral reefs, Australasia is one of the most important realms for ocean biodiversity. The Great Barrier Reef, considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders, is the world’s largest coral reef system. https://www.oneearth.org/realms/australasia/

Australasia is already greatly affected by the ongoing climate crisis, with rising land temperatures and an increasing frequency of heat waves and bush fires; rising sea levels and an increasing frequency of heavy rain causing flooding, interspersed with increasing periods of drought. Rising sea levels disproportionately affect small islands nations. Rising temperatures in the oceans are destroying coral reefs.

An extract from ‘Kangaroo’ by D H Lawrence

Delicate mother Kangaroo

Sitting up there rabbit-wise, but huge, plump-weighted,

And lifting her beautiful slender face, oh! so much more

gently and finely lined than a rabbit’s, or than a hare’s,

Lifting her face to nibble at a round white peppermint drop

which she loves, sensitive mother Kangaroo.

Her sensitive, long, pure-bred face.

Her full antipodal eyes, so dark,

So big and quiet and remote, having watched so many

empty dawns in silent Australia.

Her little loose hands, and drooping Victorian shoulders.

And then her great weight below the waist, her vast pale belly,

With a thin young yellow little paw hanging out, and

straggle of a long thin ear, like ribbon,

Like a funny trimming to the middle of her belly, thin

little dangle of an immature paw, and one thin ear.

Her belly, her big haunches

And, in addition, the great muscular python-stretch of her tail.

There, she shan’t have any more peppermint drops.

So she wistfully, sensitively sniffs the air, and then turns,

goes off in slow sad leaps

On the long flat skis of her legs,

Steered and propelled by that steel-strong snake of a tail.

Intercessions

We give thanks for the beauty and diversity of the world you have given us,

for its colour and abundance, its richness and vitality.

Generous God, hear our prayer.

With sorry we acknowledge our part in damaging what you have created.

We acknowledge that our lifestyles have been selfish and careless.

We acknowledge that we could and can do more

to tend this earth and care for its inhabitants.

Merciful God, hear our prayer.

We pray for these who conserve plant and animal wildlife, birds and insects.

We pray for the work of agriculturalist and scientists

developing better, kinder ways of living on this earth.

We pray for the resilience of indigenous communities

that strive to live in harmony with their environment.

Gracious God, hear our prayer.

We pray for government leaders and advisers,

farmers and business leaders,

that they will hold dear the needs of the environment

and strive to avert the risks of the ecological crisis.

Enabling God, hear our prayer.

The Grace

Prayers for the ecosystems of the Antarctic

21st February 2026

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus Isaiah 35:1

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: Job 38:4-7,18

‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
   Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
   Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
   or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together
   and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.

During Lent I shall be focusing on the different continent; this week Antarctica.

Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent in terms of total area. There are no countries in Antarctica, although seven nations claim different parts of it: New Zealand, Australia, France, Norway, the United Kingdom, Chile, and Argentina. The Antarctic also includes island territories of South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, Peter I Island and Bouvet Island, Heard and McDonald islands, Scott Island and the Balleny Islands.
The Antarctic Ice Sheet dominates the region. It is the largest single piece of ice on Earth. This ice sheet even extends beyond the continent when snow and ice are at their most extreme.
Antarctica has a number of mountain summits, including the Transantarctic Mountains, which divide the continent into eastern and western regions. A few of these summits reach altitudes of more than 4,500m. The elevation of the Antarctic Ice Sheet itself is about 2,000m and reaches 4,000m above sea level near the centre of the continent.

The Antarctic region has an important role in global climate processes. It is an integral part of the Earth’s heat balance. The heat balance, also called the energy balance, is the relationship between the amount of solar heat absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere and the amount of heat reflected back into space.

Lichens, mosses, and terrestrial algae are among the few species of vegetation that grow in Antarctica. The interior has little if any vegetation. The ocean, however, teems with fish and other marine life – among the most diverse on the planet. Upwelling allows phytoplankton and algae to flourish. Thousands of species, such as krill, feed on the plankton. Fish and a large variety of marine mammals thrive in the cold Antarctic waters – especially blue, fin, humpback, right, minke, sei, and sperm whales. One of the apex predators in Antarctica is the leopard seal. The most familiar animal of Antarctica is probably the penguin. They have adapted to the cold, coastal waters. Their wings serve as flippers as they “fly” through the water in search of prey such as squid and fish. Their feathers retain a layer of air, helping them keep warm in the freezing water. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/antarctica/

Global warming is raising temperatures and melting ice sheets. This has wide ranging impacts from rising sea levels, the disruption of ocean currents, the disruption of weather systems, the displacement of those living beings that only thrive in the particular Antarctic conditions and the consequential knock-on effect on other interdependent species.

Seeking first your kingdom & righteousness may all things needful be added to us.

We pray for the wellbeing of the Antarctic, the protection of its climate and preservation of its ice cap. Inspire and encourage us, as citizens and consumers, governments and leaders to truly address the means by which we can radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
We recognise ourselves in the fractured and frail failures of the stories of God’s people. and we pause to reorient ourselves towards love of God and neighbour.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
Our love has been as the morning mist, as the dew that goes early away.
God be gracious;
Lord, have mercy
Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth
Our love has been as the morning mist, as the dew that goes early away.
God be gracious;
Lord, have mercy
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Our love has been as the morning mist, as the dew that goes early away.
God be gracious;
Lord, have mercy.
O Soul be joyful; our merciful God stretches out a loving hand to you.
(1 Cor 13:4-7; Hosea 13:3) https://ourcommonprayer.org/2017/07/22/lent/

The Grace

The Joys and Sorrows of Civilisation

14th February 2026

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

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: So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: ‘You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors ….. he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, “I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.” Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, as he promised. Acts 13: 16, 17a, 22b,23

Reflection

Roots secure us to the past, ensure that we are part of the continuity of creation; shoots and branches take our lives forward into the as yet unformed future. Without the next generation there will be no ongoing continuity. The gospels of Luke and Matthew both locate Jesus within a human family tree; the prologue of John’s gospel locates him as co existent with the beginning of all creation. Later in John’s gospel, Jesus affirms his coexistence with the Father and the ongoing coexistence, through him, of all believers, all God’s children.

For gifts of past generations:

We thank you God.

For the gift of fire for cooking and heating

For the gift of clean water and sewers:

We thank you God.

For the domestication of cattle and horses,

Cats and dogs, sheep and pigs,

Hens and geese:

We thank you God.

For the gift of gardening and arable cultivation,

sowing and reaping,

growing and harvesting:

We thank you God.

For the gift of healing and caring,

of medicine and surgery

For the understanding of the intricacies of mind and body:

We thank you God.

For the gift of story telling and drama,

of art and observation

means of sharing grief and joy:

We thank you God.

For the gift of learning and research,

of teaching and sharing:

We thank you God.

For the gift of exploration and endeavour,

of travel and communication:

We thank you God.

For the gift of worship,

of self realisation

and of the knowledge of God:

We thank you God.

But what shall we pass on to generations to come?

Do we offer gifts or burdens?