GATHERING

SONG AT THE CENTER

From the corners of creation to the center where we stand,

let all things be blessed and holy, all is fashioned by your hand.

Brother Wind and Sister and Water, Mother Earth and Father Sky

Sacred Plants and Sacred Creatures, Sacred People of the Land.

In the East the place of dawning there is beauty in the morn;

Here the seeker finds new visions as each sacred day is born.

All who honor life around them, All who honor life within,

They shall shine with light and glory when the morning breaks again.

In the South the place of growing, there is wisdom in the Earth

Both the painful song of dying and the joyful song of birth.

As the Earth gives up her lifeblood, so her children’s hearts may beat

We give back to her our reverence; holy ground beneath our feet.

In the North the place of wisdom there is holy darkness deep,

Here the silent song of mystery may awake you from your sleep.

Here the music still and holy sounds beneath the snow and night

In the to wait with patience for the coming of the light,

In the West the place of seeing there is born a vision new

of the Servant of the servants who proclaimed a Gospel true.

Let the creatures of creation Echo back creation’s prayer,

Let the Spirit now breathe through us And restore the sacred here.

From the corners of creation to the center where we stand,

let all things be blessed and holy, all is fashioned by your hand.

Brother Wind and Sister and Water, Mother Earth and Father Sky

Sacred Plants and Sacred Creatures, Sacred People of the Land.

De Colores

De colores, de colores se visten los campos in la primavera.

De colores son los pajaritos que vienen de-a-fuera.

De colores, de colores es el arco iris que vemos salir,

Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mi.

Sing of colors, sing of colors that over the hills in profusion are springing;

Sing of colors, of the birds that fly outside my window their canticles singing;

Sing of colors, in the rainbow’s bright colors God’s promise of hope we recall;

Sing of colors that make up the Earth and give thanks to the God who created us all.

Sing, rejoicing! Every creature that breathes raise a song to the God of creation.

Sing, rejoicing! Sing to God who so earnestly cares, who has offered salvation.

Sing the good news! Sing the love of the Savior reflecting the colors of all.

Many colors that shine from God’s face, many colors that tell us God’s love to recall.

WELCOME & OVERVIEW OF THE DAY

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER SERVICE

For the fruit of all creation, thanks be to God.

For God’s gifts to every nation, thanks be to God.

For the plowing, sowing reaping, silent growth while we are sleeping,

Future needs in Earth’s safe keeping, thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labor, God’s will is done.

In the help we give our neighbor, God’s will is done.

In our worldwide task of caring for the hungry and despairing,

In the harvests we are sharing, God’s will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God.

For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God.

For the wonders that astound us, for the truths that still confound us,

Most of all that love has found us, thanks be to God.

Text: Fred Pratt Green, 1970 Tune: AR HYD Y NOS 84.84.88.84

CALL TO PRAYER

Carolyn: In silence, let us pray…

(pause for silent prayer… Conclude the silence praying in the words of Pope Francis:

All powerful God, you are present in the universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love that we may protect life and beauty. Fill us with your peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth. Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.

and let the people say: AMEN

READING

A READING from the Book of GENESIS Genesis 2: 4b-9, 15

This is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.

When ADONAI Elohim made the earth and the heavens— there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for ADONAI Elohim had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no human to till the ground, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground—

Then ADONAI Elohim formed the human out of the dust of the ground and blew into the nostrils the Breath of Life, and the human became a living being.

ADONAI Elohim planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed the human there.

Out of the ground ADONAI Elohim made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

ADONAI Elohim then took and settled the human in the garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it.

Thanks be to God.

Silence