God of All Creation,
Extreme heat is overtaking seasons usually filled with cool breezes
And a multitude of tropical depressions are swirling in the Atlantic.
I’m fairly certain your creation is groaning in labor pains
But I know it won’t give birth to healthy fruit.
Yes, someday your glory on that side of heaven will be magnificent-
But that will be then.
This is now.
We watch the glaciers melt and the sea levels rise and our weather patterns revolt.
You aren’t asking us to create the apocalypse
And usher in the second coming of Jesus
By destroying creation.
Your call for us to construct joy on earth
Depends on our hands and hearts.
Your sixteen-year-old prophets are telling us to stop the damage.
We see that the children are leading us
Because it will matter to them
When the rivers rise
When the crops fail
When illnesses claim lives.
Turn our heads.
Turn our hearts.
May we ask creation for forgiveness
And may our actions speak louder than our tears.
Amen.
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The Rev. Michelle L. Torigian is the Senior Pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ, Belleville, Illinois. Her essay “Always a Pastor, Never the Bride” was in the RevGalBlogPals book There’s a Woman in the Pulpit. She also has chapters in the books Sacred Habits: The Rise of the Creative Clergy and A Child Laughs: Prayers for Justice and Hope. Torigian blogs at http://www.michelletorigian.com.
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