Kirkepiscatoid

I got a notice some time back for open requests for submissions for a prayer book that will be published next year. So I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a whirl. I was in a Lenten discussion group this year that required me to write prayers as part of each week's assignment. Let me be up front, I hated it. It was hard because I had to think about writing things poetically and inclusively instead of "just blurting out what I had on my mind for talking to God."

I would show these to the vicar via e-mail, and grumble the whole time. To my surprise, Wallace would shoot back e-mails that "Hey, these are really good." That kind of got me to thinking maybe I could do this. So when I got this request for submissions, I thought, "Ok, what the heck. I'll try."

This is the one I did that I am most pleased with the effort. I decided to make this one a litany, so there could be group response...

A litany for the fleeting moments of nature that bring joy
(responses in italics)

Lord God of Heaven and Earth, open our hearts and train our vision to see the gifts of your creation that come into being for only a short time each year.

We thank you for the budding lilacs, the creeping wood sorrel, the daintiness of the blooms of Dutchman’s breeches, and the birds’ foot violet.
We thank you, Lord, for flowering plants in all their glory.

We thank you for the first crocus that peeks its head above the snow, the first gray morel mushroom that pokes up from the grass, the first cottonwood fluffball that falls from the tree, and the first yellow dandelion that dares to invade our grassy lawn.
We thank you, Lord, for the sentinels of Your seasons.

We thank you for the shiny innocence of newborn livestock, the wiggly rhythm of nests of hatchlings, the pristine camouflage of white-tailed fawns, and the dancing friskiness of colts.
We thank you Lord, for the renewal of life in Your infant creatures.

We thank you for the shortness of the winter solstice, the length of the summer solstice, and the equality of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
We thank you Lord, for the ever changing seasons.

We thank you for the sedate old cow, the gray-muzzled family dog, the pudgy old housecat, and the scraggly old donkey in the pasture.
We thank you Lord, for the beauty of maturity in Your kingdom.

We thank you for the falling leaves of October, the artistry of the first frost, the first snowflake of winter, and the orange horizon on the snow-covered ground at sunset.
We thank you Lord, for the death in nature that comes before new life.

O God, author of the universe, grant us wisdom to see Your hand in nature’s cycles and apply their truths to our own lives as we wander through the cycle of human life. For in everything there is a season, and a time for every living creature. Instruct us in the understanding of our own lives through the cycles you have provided us through nature; help us to see the fleeting window of the defining moments of our own lives through the appreciation of the short seasonal wonders of your creation. In the name of Jesus, whose own short season of life changed the world, we pray.
Amen.