Happy Earth Day

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day--a day to celebrate and renew our commitment to this amazing world that God has created.

O GOD, we thank you for this earth, our home; for the wide sky and the blessed sun, for the ocean and streams, for the towering hills and the whispering wind, for the trees and green grass.

We thank you for our senses by which we hear the songs of birds, and see the splendor of fields of golden wheat, and taste autumn's fruit, and rejoice in the feel of snow, and smell the breath of spring flowers.

Grant us a heart opened wide to all this beauty; and save us from being so blind that we pass unseeing when even the common bush is aflame with your glory.

Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
(from the CSJP Weekly Peace Prayer for Earth Day)