17th March 2023
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes. Isaiah 40: 11
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 reflection on Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
In your gift is daily bread, sustenance for each day
From you comes wisdom and understanding –
the gift of peace.
The Lord desires green pasture and clear waters,
wooded hills that clap their hands,
streams that overflow with joy –
a world where all may rest in peace.
The Lord restores my soul,
forgives my sins and heals my pain.
He renews my confidence so I too
may renew broken relationships.
The Lord leads me in right paths.
He goes before us, leading by example
and marking the way –
on earth as in heaven.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
even though the news is of floods and drought,
fires and tempest, I am comforted
for the Lord is my steadfast companion.
I hear of evil – of warfare and greed,
of persecution and oppression;
of self-interest and self-delusion
– yet I fear not evil, for the Lord is our righteousness.
You prepare a table before me
where bread and wine will satisfy my wants.
In the face of adversity,
You anoint me with the Holy Spirit.
The goodness and mercy of the Lord
shall stay with me all the days of my life,
for the Lord is my shepherd
and I shall not want.
Prayers:
Holy God, Shepherd of your people,
forgive us for all the times we have strayed –
and repeatedly strayed –
from your ways.
Set us once again on the right path,
the path of righteousness.
Show us how to love our neighbour as ourself.
Show us how to lead simple lives
that do not steal food and resources
from the mouths of the poor.
Show us how to tend and care for the earth
that the fertility of the soils and the vitality
of pollinating insects will be restored.
Show us how to curb our greed
that there may be an equal sharing of the earth’s gifts
and equitable pay for all who labour.
Show us how to unite all our brethren
in eschewing the use of fossil fuels
that global temperatures can be contained.
Show us how to make space for others
that migrants both human and creaturely
may have space to call their own.
Amen.
The Green Tau 