Every Wednesday, we invite you to pause and pray with us. Today’s Pause & Pray is written and curated by Cody Beckett.

Image: by Luca Bravo from the Unsplash

Read

Psalm 104: 24-25, 31-32 

“O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.There is the sea, great and wide; creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great … When You send forth Your spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in Their works – who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.” 

Meditate

Source of all life, 
Your Love radiates through the earth: 
through the soil, and through the waters. 
You are present in the air we breathe, 
the water we drink, and the food we eat. 
Yet, we confess that we often forget our kinship. 
We rush past Your gifts of creation, 
we are preoccupied with our own advancement. 
We treat the earth as a possession to own
rather than as a relative and a companion.
We allow fear and greed to disconnect us 
from the sacred bonds we share with the trees, 
creatures, and all members of Your creation. 
Heal the wounds of separation within us.
Teach us to see the world as a family member. 
Open our hearts that we might be grateful. 
Guide our minds so that we might examine our privilege,
our voices so that we might advocate for the marginalized,
our hands so that we might tear down harmful systems. 
May we remember that to honor the Imago Dei is to honor You.
May our lives become holy spaces of kinship, gratitude, and love. 

Amen.

Listen

For the Beauty of the Earth – arr. Philip Stopford