Earth Day

 

Creating God, Creator of the planets, the sun, the moon, the stars, and of life itself; we, the epitome of your creation, pause to worship you with words and songs of praise! You are our God; we are your people; and we have come to affirm this fact! Yet, Eternal Spirit, we confess that we do not always live as though we are yours. You created us to care for one another and the world in which we live. Too often, however, we uncaringly treat others as things to be used, and we thoughtlessly abuse the world into which we were born. Forgive us, we pray. Thank you, God, for Earth Day and for its reminders and challenges for each of us to be better caretakers of the planet you have entrusted to us. Inspire us this day to be better citizens of this earth: who seek to conserve and not waste exhaustible natural resources, who do not spoil the beauties of nature by littering or trashing, who urge our elected officials to curtail deforestation and pollution. May we go forth from this place with the words of Edward Everett Hale ringing in our ears and informing our lives: “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” Amen.13 (J. B.)