by Christine Sine
Yesterday, my morning contemplation was derailed by a book… and a novel at that. It is called The Dictionary of Lost Words, and tells the story of Esme whose father is one of a group of lexicographers who are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. One day, as Esme sits under the table where they work, a word flutters to the ground. She rescues it, discovering that the word means slave girl and so begins a delightful adventure in which the rescuing of words becomes the center of Esme’s life. She realizes that the words and meaning relating to the lives of women and ordinary peoples’ experiences were often deliberately ignored by this and subsequent groups of dictionary men who consciously or unconsciously worked to shape the dictionary based on their own view of the world.
So, Esme complies her own dictionary – The Dictionary of Lost Words, a title and a story that deeply impacted me. A couple of years ago, I read another fascinating book, Landmarks by Robert McFarlane. He, too, was a gatherer of lost words, mainly, words about nature. He, too, discovered that when the Junior Oxford Dictionary, was updated a few years ago, some words were deliberately removed and others added. All those removed had to do with nature, and those added were about technology. He talked about how our loss of descriptive words for nature meant that we are losing “a literacy of the land” and, as a result, see nature more as a thing that does something for us rather than something to us so it easily becomes “more vulnerable to unwise use and improper action.” Our selective use of language, he argues, has “stunned the world out of wonder”.
As I thought about this yesterday, I was reminded that throughout history we have deliberately “lost” words and languages as an intentional way to suppress cultures and races. Terrible, you might think, but we all consciously or unconsciously “lose” words so that the world around us reflects our own world view or so that we can fit into the worldview of those in power over us. We consciously or unconsciously judge people accordingly. We love that English has become a universal language, but rarely think about the impact on other languages and their cultures. Even the English that is acceptable is shaped by those in power, once by Britain and now by America, and by white America, at that. That is the English we view as superior, we teach it at school, and we expect people to speak it in order to get a high paying job.
I must confess that when I first travelled to non-English speaking countries, I was relieved that I did not need to learn another language. I could easily and lazily communicate, unconsciously communicating my superiority to those around me. Even the English I used, grounded in a university education, was more complex and difficult to understand than what some of my colleagues used. Changing my language so that others understood me was called “dumbing down” the language. I was definitely superior. My use of words said so.
Christian world views, too, are defined by language. In conservative circles, one only calls God, Father. In more progressive circles, one calls God everything but Father. All of us, I feel, have lost the rich array of words we could embrace to describe the Creator of the universe.
Love Your Neighbour – Create A New Dictionary of Lost Words
Has it ever occurred to you that loving your neighbour could mean loving their language as you love your own? Could loving your neighbour mean helping them rediscover their own language with pride?
Imagine how fun it could be to create a new dictionary of lost words, one that helps all of us keep cultures and nature alive and vital. Maybe one of the spiritual practices we all need for the future is to rediscover a lost word each day and then use it at least 5 times each day for the next week. Or we could help someone else rediscover a word that our superior attitude towards them has forced them to discard from their language. The challenge would be learning how to adopt that word into our own vocabulary without making our friend feel put down or ridiculed. Wow this dictionary of lost words could be quite a challenge.
Here are a few prayerful exercises for you to consider over the next week:
- Make a list of 10 words you used as a child but have lost from your current vocabulary. Which ones would you like to transform into “found” words? What is one step you could take to make that happen?
- When I left Australia and settled in the U.S I had to lose some of my favourite words like “fair dinkum, G day and arvo. Talk to a friend from another English speaking culture. What are words they have lost in order to fit into your culture? In what ways could you help them embrace these words again?
- If you are white, talk to a black friend. What are words they have had to lose from their vocabulary in order to feel accepted in white society and be able to get a job? How has this made them feel? How could you learn from them about how to reintegrate these words into not just their culture but into your’s as well? If you are black you might like to have this conversation with a white friend and help them to understand what you have had to give up in order to fit into white society.
- In your Christian worldview what are the acceptable words for God? Speak to a friend with another Christian perspective. Make a list of 10 words that are acceptable to them that have been “lost” from your Christian world view. What do you feel you have lost by not using these words? Choose 2 of these words. What are ways that you could comfortably reintroduce these words into your language?
Another beautiful Taize style service from St Andrews Episcopal church in Seattle. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756
by Tom Sine,
Celebrating my 51st Anniversary. I realize from looking at the picture that I look a little older than 51. Let me explain. This story begins on that first Earth Day, 51 years ago. We all need to celebrate this remarkable anniversary and strongly support those working for Climate Justice in the 2020s!
On April 22, 1970, I was working as the Dean of Students at Maui Community College in Hawaii. I heard an announcement that James Dator, a political scientist from the University of Hawaii, was coming to speak on the subject of America’s First Earth Day. I was curious and had no appointments so I joined 40 students and a handful of fellow staff members to hear Dr. Dator.
Dr. Dator spoke compellingly about a range of environmental and political challenges that we would face in the future. I was totally overwhelmed by his presentation. The more he spoke, the more troubled I became. As a young 30-something, I prided myself on keeping up with what we used to call “current events”. However, I had no sense that the world was changing or a host of new challenges threatening our common future.
Immediately after Dr. Dator concluded his address, 35 students started heading to a motel three blocks along the coast from where the community college was located. I joined them. They stopped at a grocery store and purchased over 50 large black garbage bags. When we reached the motel, we saw that it was beautifully situated on the beach overlooking the ocean. But we also noticed that the beach was covered with huge mounds of garbage from the accumulated waste of the past week. Apparently the motel routinely placed their garbage on the beach for the ocean to take away.
The students bagged over 50 huge bags of the garbage and brought it into the lobby of the motel. The manager of the motel immediately flew into verbal rage ordering the students to put the garbage back on the beach. They refused and we literally spent the rest of the day in a protest of this environmental pollution. By the end of the afternoon, after many heated conversations with the manager, he finally caved in and promised to secure garbage services in the future and the students transported the garbage to the dump.
The students I was with were delighted. I suddenly realized my future had just been turned upside down. Three months later, I was on a plane to Seattle to start a doctoral program at the University of Washington. My major focus was in intellectual history. However, I persuaded my advisor to allow me to create a minor area of study in strategic foresight. His approval enabled me to take courses in urban planning, business forecasting and the social management of technology. I also taught in this program for three years at the UW.
While I was very interested in intellectual history, my wake up call in Hawaii focused me with a desire to enable Christian leaders to learn with me the importance of how to:
- Anticipate the incoming waves of change so they and those they work with have time to respond;
- Research innovative ways to enable people to respond to the waves of change that are threatening the good creation and all of our lives, so we can become active agents of change-making;
- Reflect on their Christian values in responding to the incoming waves instead of allowing us and coming generations to allow our lives and actions to be shaped by the influence of popular consumer culture.
As I became acquainted with several of my professors at the UW, I shared with them that several states had created statewide projects to address these new environmental challenges as well as societal changes in the 80s. These included California Tomorrow and the Maine Manifesto.
We were able to secure a meeting with governor Dan Evans, the Republican governor of the state of Washington at the time. As we described some of the other state futures projects, Governor Evans started to become interested. In fact, he decided to actually launch a Washington 2000 project that started with several thousand citizens from all over the state convening to learn how citizens could participate. The two professors and I were invited to participate in that first meeting.
Another new Christian friend of mine, who had arrived in Washington the same week I did to become the President of Whitworth College, was Edward Lindaman. Lindaman had just left a position heading the Apollo Space Craft Project. His first action at Whitworth, out of his concern for the environment was to start an alternative food program for students.
Ironically, the professor for my first class at the UW was Utopia Dystopia. It was taught by Science author Frank Herbert. Frank was also glad to get involved in the state futures prime project, too.
Dan Evans asked Edward Lindaman, president of Whitworth College, to head the Washington 2000 futures project. However, it was the only state futures project that invited a citizen participation from all over the state of Washington. Remarkably Governor Evans actually used the input from citizens to change the policy in areas of environmental stewardship and other areas as well before we left office.
I finally graduated from the University of Washington with a PhD degree in history and my minor in strategic foresight. In 1981, I published my first book, The Mustard Seed Conspiracy, in which I challenge church leaders to learn from business innovators and urban planners about the importance of anticipating the incoming waves of change so they have time to respond. The book did very well as the first of my 10 books. My latest that I’ve co-authored with my friend, Dwight Friesen, is titled 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change, published with Fortress Press.
I’ve also enjoyed teaching courses on Christian Worldview at Fuller Theological Seminary at the extension in Seattle for 32 years. We always focused on the importance of not only anticipating the new waves of change but also exploring the ways that western culture has shaped our personal and societal values in ways that are often in tension with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I invite you to join me in celebrating my “51st Celebration of Earth Day”. I also invite you to support all of those working for serious climate change like President Joseph Biden, Sojourners Magazine and Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. We all need to move rapidly to work for serious climate change… so that a new generation has a hope and a future. Nothing is more important as we race into the 2020s than to work together for global climate change.
Drinking from Easter Cups…
THE CUP OF PEACE
It’s still Easter… the season of Easter. We are closing out week three and beginning week 4 of Eastertide. But there has been so much happening in our country and our world, maybe you’ve forgotten all about Easter. Maybe it’s cold and grey or even spitting snow again, and signs of new life are hard to find. We all held our breaths as we waited on the jury in Minneapolis.
We prayed for peace and justice to roll down like mighty waters!
Easter got lost in gun fire and senseless loss over and over again since Easter!
We need the cup of Peace today!
When Jesus appeared to his followers, who were hiding in a locked room, after his resurrection, his first words were
“PEACE BE WITH YOU”.
And the PEACE of Jesus that he gave and gives to us, too, is SHALOM… so much more than our small definition of peace!
Shalom is wholeness… harmony. Peace & completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility!
I sure need to drink from this cup of peace today& drink in the Shalom of God!
Make a Cup of Tea
Make a cup of tea (a drink of peace & hospitality) and drink in God’s Peace today.
Take time to drink in the Shalom of Jesus.
And continue to pray for peace, too, and true shalom to overflow in America and our world.
Along with the CUP OF PEACE, Jesus gives us the CUP OF FORGIVENESS.
Jesus poured out love and forgiveness to his disciples,
to his followers who’d betrayed him
And denied him.
To those who were afraid to forgive themselves.
Jesus gave the cup of forgiveness to those who doubted that he was risen, or at least doubted the beliefs of their friends.
Jesus gave them all the cup of forgiveness so they could drink it in and truly know that they were forgiven.
And he told them that their new mission was to pour out forgiveness to other people all over the world!
Hold your Cup
HOLD YOUR CUP
What if we all drank from that cup of forgiveness today?
What if we truly received the cup of forgiveness and wholeness?
What if we realized that Jesus didn’t ever shame his followers for their shortcomings,
or for their doubts,
or because of their unbelief
or for their fears.
Jesus NEVER gave out cups of shame! Instead, Jesus hands out overflowing cups of his LOVE and FORGIVENESS.
He gave his disciples the cup of forgiveness to drink deeply from each day.
And Jesus gives this cup to each of us too!
How have you been drinking from the cup of shame rather than the cup of forgiveness this week?
How have you drunk in bitterness, or criticism this week?
Talk to Jesus about this.
How have you poured out shame or criticism rather than forgiveness to other people?
Ask Jesus to forgive you and pray for those people.
As you hold your cup… imagine Jesus sitting across from you with a large mug.
This cup is filled to the brim with LOVE and FORGIVENESS.
Jesus reaches across the table and hands you that large mug!
Jesus smiles and his eyes are filled with compassion and love for you.
Jesus knows how often we don’t drink from this cup for ourselves.
Jesus knows how often we don’t let ourselves hand this cup to other people who’ve hurt us, or people who’ve broken our trust, or don’t think or believe as we do.
Receive the Cup of Forgiveness from Jesus
Receive that large cup of FORGIVENESS from Jesus today.
DRINK deeply.
Drink in forgiveness…
forgive yourself, allow Jesus to help you forgive others.
Allow Jesus to help you receive and drink from this cup of FORGIVENESS!
Ask Jesus to help you and to refresh you!
EACH day this week as you make your tea or coffee, consider who needs to know God’s peace and forgiveness and pray for them, and then DRINK in peace and drink in Forgiveness from Jesus for yourself.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
Our best selling book, To Garden with God and The Gift of Wonder Prayer Cards bundle is on sale until May 11th. Makes a great gift!
by Lisa DeRosa,
Today is the day! Earth Day is upon us. How has your preparation been? If you read my last post, Time to Love and “Restore Our Earth”, you may have spent some time thinking about what you love most about Earth, how you want to contribute to Earth Care for Earth Day. Maybe you read it and life happened, so it went in one ear and out the other. That is okay! Today is a new day, we can begin again by the grace of God.
As I am writing this and thinking about what I want to do, I feel overwhelmed by the options. And yet, limited in some ways, because Earth Day falls on a Thursday this year… I know that I will be working on my laptop for most of the day, but the weather seems like it will be pleasant enough to sit outside, at least. Of course, my evening will be free. This is where my black and white thinking comes in to create self-inflicted limitations where I think, “I can only celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd. Any other day will not work or matter if it’s not done on Thursday”. If anyone reading this also struggles with this type of thinking, you are not alone! I am working to throw out this thought and allow myself to celebrate with my housemates for our monthly garden day on April 24th, two days later. We will add mulch to the garden, weed areas that need to be weeded, and stop for a coffee break to enjoy each other’s company while we rest.
Earth Day is an opportunity to pause from the busyness of life and think about, appreciate, and act in response to the beautiful creation that God has gifted to us. Why should we care about the earth? So many reasons! Including that it is Biblical! The Bible shares with us the story of how God created man in his image and where man would live. In Genesis 2, humanity receives its first home in the garden:
8 The Eternal God planted a garden in the east in Eden—a place of utter delight—and placed the man whom He had sculpted there.
9 In this garden, He made the ground pregnant with life—bursting forth with nourishing food and luxuriant beauty. (TPT)
I love the Passion Translation’s version of these few verses because of the poetic language it uses to describe the scene for us. A little later in the chapter, humans receive a call from God while in the garden:
15 The Eternal God placed the newly made man in the garden of Eden in order to work the ground and care for it. (TPT)
Caring for creation is not just something that was the role of Adam and Eve back in the original garden; it continues to be our role as humans created by a loving Eternal God. We are called to “work the ground and care for it”.
I know that this verse can be used in destructive ways, too. We pervert this call into a sense of power over the earth where we can justify exploiting animals, plants, fungi, and even other humans into molding what we want out of creation rather than what was God’s original plan. We can distort the call to “work the ground” into manipulating, disturbing, destroying, deforesting, planting non-native species, or even invasive plants because of our selfish desires.
But on Earth Day, we can take time to reclaim that call, to “Restore Our Earth” as is the theme for Earth Day this year. Earth Day is an opportunity to love and care for the earth, to set new goals, to research new ideas for how to move toward sustainable living, to appreciate creation, and improve our relationship to it.
If you are feeling unprepared for today, still wanting to celebrate but feeling like it’s too late, here are some amazing options in and of themselves or for last-minute celebration ideas:
- Read this new resource by Circlewood that launched today called The Ecological Disciple! Circlewood also has an amazing podcast called Earthkeepers which offers about 30 episodes ranging in topics from an interview with Christine Sine about Gardens, Community, and God-Presence to In Kinship with Creation: Lenore Three Stars on Indigenous Worldviews and many more!
- Try one of Andy’s ideas for Earth Day in the Neighborhood to reach out to others in your neighborhood.
- Take a walk in your neighborhood and intentionally take notice of a plant, bird, or other animals, and thank God for providing the creation that surrounds you. Take a photo or two to reflect on later in the day.
- Watch one of the featured videos during the EarthxFilm Festival.
- Think about one way that you can start to live more sustainably. Consider swapping out single-use plastic items that you use every day for sustainable and reusable options. Hilary Horn shared a very informative post with 6 ways to start living sustainably on a tight budget. Some possible ideas include:
-
- Plastic water bottles for a stainless steel bottle: I love Klean Kanteen brand and have had the same water bottle for 10 years now.
- Reusable K-Cups instead of the plastic ones: My in-laws use these and love the distinction for decaf or regular coffee grounds. Saves a ton of money, too!
- BPA-free reusable sandwich bags or beeswax wraps: One of my Earth Day projects is making beeswax wraps myself, but these are a great organic cotton option if you would rather buy them.
- Mesh produce bags can really help eliminate the plastic produce bags from the supermarket that you take home. My husband and I have used these bags for just over a year and are huge fans. They do not add much extra weight but are really durable.
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- Write a poem, prayer, or short story about your favorite place or quality about creation and share it with your friends and family or on social media.
- If you enjoy and appreciate art, check out the collections offered on the National Museum of Natural History website. Marvel at the diversity of species, minerals, and fossils on display!
- Purchase seeds or a plant and learn how to take care of it. Start small and realistic for your schedule/lifestyle. Thank God for the experience of “working the ground and caring for it”.
- Follow influencers that promote gardening or sustainable living such as 10 Black Gardeners You Should be Following on Instagram or Tree Huggers: Gardening Communities You Should Join.
- Read a book about sustainability, gardening, or creation care. Christine has a list of her favorite books ofr Earth Day and a Sustainability Reading List to help in your search.
Whether you are prepared for Earth Day today or it snuck up on you, I pray that you would find a meaningful way to celebrate and appreciate God’s incredible creation today (and/or whenever you can!).
Need more resources? Our Earth Day resources from the Creation Spirituality page are listed below:
- Getting Ready for Earth Day
- Getting Ready for Earth Day – Resources for Kids
- Earth Day in the Neighborhood – Top 10 Ideas
- Time to Love and “Restore Our Earth” by Lisa DeRosa
- Celebrating Earth Day 50! by Tom Sine
- Native American Prayers for Earth Day
- Celebrate with All Creation
Thanks to NeONBRAND for the photo found on Unsplash.
Note: As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn an amount on qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support for Godspace in this way.
Another perfect way to celebrate Earth Day is by signing up for the Spirituality of Gardening Online Course during our sale! Purchase 180 Days of access for this course for only $29.99 through April 25th!
by Carol Dixon,
Earth shall be fair and all her people one
GREETING
The whole universe is a gift of God.
Everything here is a gift of God.
We are the gifts of God to each other.
We are all part of the procession of life.
Let us celebrate as we sing of our joy in God’s creation.
HYMN:
Touch the earth lightly [CH4 243]
(alt tune: Nothing distress you R& S 548)
Touch the earth lightly, use the earth gently.
Nourish the life of the world in our care:
Gift of great wonder, ours to surrender,
Trust for the children tomorrow will bear.
We who endanger, who create hunger,
Agents of death for all creatures that live,
We who would foster clouds of disaster,
God of our planet, forestall and forgive!
Let there be greening, birth from the burning,
Water that blesses and air that is sweet,
Health in God’s garden, hope in God’s children,
Regeneration that peace will complete.
God of all living, God of all loving,
God of the seeding, the snow and the sun,
Teach us, deflect us, Christ reconnect us,
Using us gently and making us one.
© Shirley E Murray [posted on YouTube by Revd. David Coleman, used with permission]
OPENING PRAYERS
Out of nothingness we came through birth into life:
With the Spirit of God within us.
From the life of God the universe unfolded into being:
With the Spirit of God within it.
From the heart of God creation goes on till the end of time:
With the Spirit of God within it and with our spirit within it.
Let us delight in God who enfolds us in hid love.
Response: Praise you Lord for your love which is seen in all the earth,
Reaching out to us all, offering the world new birth.
CONFESSION
Creator God,
we confess that our creating often goes wrong.
We are sometimes ignorant, we are sometimes careless.
We are sometimes short-sighted and self-interested.
Let us be aware of our failures in creation……….
Forgive us, gracious God.
We long to live in harmony with all that you have given to us.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
God is always the creator and the re-creator.
Let us celebrate the recreation which is offered to us at this moment!
Response: Praise you Lord for your love which is seen in all the earth,
Reaching out to us all, offering the world new birth.
A STORY CELEBRATING THE WONDER OF CREATION
God made everything (Genesis 1) from The Bible Story by Philip Turner
Before the beginning there was only God and nothing else at all. On the first day that all things started, God sent his Spirit winging over the emptiness that was not himself, like a white bird over a grey and tumbling sea…..
On the first day God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and the sun came up like a shining new penny over the empty sea, and that first night there was a riding moon, and the stars were like a million holes in a blue velvet sky….
Then there was a week of making; such a week as God had not known before. Dry land came like a whale out of the water, and on the land, grass – green as gooseberries – and gooseberries themselves, and great trees thrusting up out of the warm earth, their leaves whispering in astonishment at the breeze. In the sea below the un-trodden beach there was the silver flicker of a thousand kinds of fish, and beneath them in the great deeps the sea monsters, Leviathan and his kind…..
To fly in the sky, God made winged creatures: butterflies, pretty as paint; dragon-flies like jewels in the air; and all manner of birds – from the one-inch humming-bird which can also fly backwards, to the great albatross soaring over the ocean like the Spirit of God…..
God made creatures to live on the dry land. He made the dappled fawn standing in the glade by the pool. He made the giraffe, so proud, so very proud, saying to all beneath him, ‘Oh, who but me has a neck like a fire escape?’….
He made the lynx with the long tail, and the Manx cat with no tail, and the wise grey elephant with legs like logs and a tail at both ends. From the small snail with his fragile house on his back to the tawny lion, king of the jungle and needing no house, God made them all….
Last of all, God said, ‘I will make human beings in my likeness and after my image.’ So out of the dust of the earth God formed the first man and breathed life into his nostrils. And the first man, Adam, stood on the new earth and looked into the eyes of God. And he was not afraid….
A story to reflect on
Once upon a time there was young man who lived in a beautiful kingdom. One day the king sent for him and said’ I would like you to become the royal gardener and look after my garden while I take care of the business of looking after the kingdom. You must keep it in good order and nurture the plants so there will be enough for all of my people’. The young man was delighted and set to with a will but after a while he grew tired of catering for everyone and started growing only what he liked, and plants to fuel his own fire and he fenced off parts of the garden so only he could use them. Then he thought ‘This is too much work’, and he converted the part of the garden furthest away from his house so his neighbours had nowhere to grow their plants to feed themselves and their families and they soon began to starve. They said to the young man ‘Please can we share your food since we can’t grow any of our own’. But he told them ‘No. I won’t have enough for myself,’ and he built a big wall to separate him from the rest of the people. Gradually though his part of the garden stopped flourishing and the plants began to die, the diversity had disappeared the huge wall blotted out the sunlight and he began to starve. He got in touch with the king and asked him to make the garden beautiful again. The king said ‘I have been trying to get in touch with you for a long time but you have ignored my calls. I wanted to help before it got too late but now there is nothing I can do about it. Our beautiful world is spoiled because of your selfishness.’ And he banished the man from his kingdom to wander the wasted earth.
My friend, Sheila Hamil, wrote a song about the dangers of erecting walls around ourselves.
I first heard a version of the anonymous allegorical story above in my teens in the early 1960s when lots of green spaces were being taken over for building projects and pollution and starvation in parts of the world were becoming an important issue. Sad to say, the problems haven’t gone away but luckily for those of us who believe in Jesus our version of the story doesn’t end there. God intervened and sent his own son to clear up the mess and through his sacrificial love and forgiveness repairs the problem & invites us to work alongside him to heal the world.
LITANY OF CREATION AND CREATING
Let us affirm the wonder of creation together:
God spoke light into the void
and the light is in our hands
against the darkness.
God clothed the world with sky
and we ride upon the wind
and breathe among the leaves.
God gifted us with earth
and with water in between.
We dig and float and drink and grow
and know the power of earth and sea.
We paint and sing and work and dance
in company with God.
We share the earth with all that is
in harmonies of warm and cold,
in green and desert, crowd and lone,
we feel the pain, we feel the joy.
God is our father and our mother,
Christ is our brother, the Spirit within us.
We celebrate our sharing in the recreating of the world.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Let us sit still among the pain of the world. Silence
Let us name some of the pains of the world…..(in silence or aloud)
Beside each other, within the earth,
part of the earth and of the earth,
we are vulnerable with her, and are her people.
We are people of pain and fear,
we are people of anger and joy,
we are people of compassion and grace.
We are one with each other,
and one with God.
In all of us is a longing
for a life that has not yet come,
for a world that is free and just,
a dream of hope for all people.
Together with God
we will create that possibility.
HYMN:
We praise and bless you, Lord (Tune: Carlisle R&S 391)
We praise and bless you, God
and shout aloud your fame;
for you have given us the earth.
How excellent your name!
We ask for grace to see
that we must change our ways,
as guardians of this precious world –
Live simply every day.
Lord, give us thankful hearts
for all that we possess,
and help us share more generously
with those who have much less.
Praise God, the king of earth
Praise Jesus Christ the Son
and praise the Holy Spirit’s power
who joins us all as one.
© Carol Dixon One world week 2007 (Original music available from Carol, used with permission)
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us go forth and share in the recreating of the world.
We go in faith to be the people of the new creation.
BLESSING (to each other)
May the sun warm your soul and the moon be gentle above you.
May the Creator hold your hand and the Christ walk in your footsteps.
May the Spirit dance in your playing and grace be found in your way. Amen.
This new bundle is on sale until May 11th and includes our best selling book, To Garden with God and The Gift of Wonder Prayer Cards.
photo and post by guest writer, Julie Cicora,
You can’t say “just a minute” to screaming infants. Their cries just intensify. An infant doesn’t care that you need to plunge the boiling eggs into cold water at a specific moment so you can be sure the shells will come off easily. The infant doesn’t care that you have finally been taken off of hold after waiting for what seems hours in order to get the duplicate restaurant charge off your credit card bill. The baby is hungry and just wants to eat. This is called “feeding on demand.” Imagine stopping whatever you are doing every two to three hours to sit and spend twenty minutes being fully present to another human being.
My experience with feeding on demand happened before the advent of cell phones and doom scrolling. I was forced to stop and essentially do nothing except hold, feed, and bond with my child. Those forced moments of rest and bonding changed my perception of time. The demands of the frenetic activities that had ruled my life faded into the background and time seemed to slow down. There was time to be present to my child. There were moments when I would stare in awe at the baby I was cradling and feel the love wash over me. However, as my child grew, outside demands crept back into my life, the space the child created disappeared, and I was left wondering how to get that time back.
No one could give it back to me. I had to give it back to myself.
For years, I struggled. I trained my young children to be quiet and wait when I told them “just a minute.” I was distracted by work and the chores of everyday life. It felt like there was barely enough time in the day to do the essentials.
There were moments when I rediscovered how to be fully present to my loved ones. Something would happen like a child climbing onto my lap with a scraped knee or my husband coming home after a long business trip that would pull me back to that sacred bonding time. But the moments were rare.
And then I discovered prayer. It changed everything in my life.
I didn’t believe in prayer at first. I needed to pray because I felt called to the ordained ministry and ministers prayed. I wasn’t sure how to pray other than to utter the prayers I learned as a child. Fortunately, a friend gave me the book Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom. I made a surprising discovery. In the book, the author advises a woman who is having trouble feeling the presence of God to sit and knit. The woman spends some time knitting in silence and she becomes aware of a loving presence. Could knitting help me regain that time of rest and bonding?
I had been unable to force myself to stop what I was doing to sit and pray until I tried knitting. Every time I tried to pray; the distractions would be too overwhelming. Knitting calmed me down and allowed me to let go of myriad of thoughts that plagued me. Soon I was sitting down three times a day to knit and pray. This new rhythm recreated the time and space I needed. It gave me the ability to become fully present to others in my life. It gave me time to love.
For years I have sat down to pray each day. My needles click rhythmically, and I am aware of the yarn forming stitch after stitch. I am intentional about sitting in the presence of God even when I feel nothing. It is enough to know the love of God surrounds me. Although, it may seem as if nothing is happening during this time of prayer, the rest of my life is transformed by the practice. I am able to prioritize my time for love. I am able to present in the moment. I can listen and be accessible.
Prayer has enabled me to find that sacred time of restoration and bonding that I discovered when I first heard the hungry cries of my infant son. Prayer is what feeds our hungry cries. It provides the time to immerse ourselves in the presence of love. And that love is what changes everything.
Contemplative Knitting
Bio for Julie
Julie Cicora
Julie Cicora is an avid knitter who believes in the power of prayer. After being ordained as an Episcopal Priest, Julie began studying prayer which led to her first book All I Can Do Is Pray about her experience as a hospital chaplain. She started a contemplative prayer practice which she found very hard to sustain until she combined it with knitting. Knitting opened the door to a daily prayer practice for Julie and other knitters who have participated in Julie’s Lenten Knit alongs. Julie’s second book Contemplative Knitting, full of stories and suggestions for how to sustain a daily prayer practice was just released in March.
Julie is available to speak to knitting groups, conduct knitting retreats either virtually or in-person (post-Covid).
Julie received her Masters of Divinity at Colgate Rochester Divinity School and was ordained in 2000 after a twenty-two-year career at Hewlett-Packard in sales. She lives in upstate New York with her husband. Outside of work, she likes to ride her motorcycle, windsurf, knit, write, and visit her five sons and twelve grandchildren.
For another great post regarding knitting, check out Knitting as A Spiritual Practice by Lisa Scandrette.
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