We close the Colorado leg of the “Advocating on the Road” blog series with this prayer by two local ELCA pastors, the Rev. Susan Candea and the Rev. Matt Converse
God of creation,
the mountains declare your majesty,
the trees reach up to give you praise,
the rivers and lakes proclaim your glory as they flow through the land,
the incredible diversity of creation sings your sovereignty and splendor,
And over all this beloved creation, you have called us to be faithful stewards. Yet we have not been faithful to you, to your creation, to our own identities and roles in creation. And so we pray:
Give us the gift of discontentment; discontentment with the way things are.
Open our eyes to see and our ears to hear the injustice and brokenness in our world.
Make us discontent with the disproportionate harm environmental racism does to countless communities;
Make us discontent with the unsustainable way we continue to use the world’s resources,
Make us discontent with the inequitable way those resources are distributed,
Make us discontent with all the ways we fall short in stewarding your precious creation.
Let our discontentment turn to longing; longing for a better world.
Longing for a world where diversity is celebrated and burdens are shared equally,
Longing for a world that wisely uses renewable resources like solar and wind,
Longing for a world where none shall have need in the midst of abundance,
Longing for a sustainable world.
Turn our longing into hope; a hope of transformation for us and the world.
A hope we find in the story of liberation from slavery in Egypt;
A hope found in the imagination of the prophets;
A hope found in the new community created in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus;
A hope found in the re-imaging of the world and community of Paul’s letters;
A hope found everywhere the church accompanies the oppressed and marginalized.
May this hope bring real and sustainable change so creation may once again sing out with your glory. Amen
