Creation Care Sunday/April 28, 2024
Readings: Benedicte Tongass: A Canticle for Southeast Alaska (Words: Bonnie Demerjian, St Philip’s, Wrangell); Creation A Congregational Reading (Liturgy for the Whole Church: Multigenerational Resources for Worship, by Susan K. Brock); Psalm 33: 3-9; 13-15; Mark 16: 14-15
Opening prayer: (from A General Thanksgiving- BCP 836)
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love. Make us ever-mindful of our call to be God’s partner in caring for this world and all of creation, and make us ever-mindful of setting aside sabbath time to rest in God, as part of our call to love and serve and celebrate the wonderful world God has created out of love, for all of God’s people, for all of creation. Amen.
Periodically, throughout the year, we take the time during a Sunday service, to focus on Creation Care…This past Monday was Earth Day, and many celebrations have been taking place all week, giving us an opportunity to pause and turn our attention once again towards the care of our earthly home and all of its’ inhabitants. Of course, this isn’t meant to suggest that our focus on creation care should only be a once in awhile thing to think about …It just gives us an opportunity, today, to intentionally turn our hearts and minds, once again, to the gifts of God, and the glory of God, revealed to us in Creation…in the land, the mountains, the deserts, the trees, the waters, the animals, the birds, the fish, the butterflies, the planets, the stars, the expanse of the skies, and in the people all around us…It’s meant to remind us to take time regularly to stop and notice the magnificence and beauty of God’s handiwork all around us, all the time, to see all that is good, very good, very, very good, in the world that God created, from the very beginning.
READ/Book: Noticing (written by Kobi Yamada, Illustrated by Elise Hurst)
Yes, we are invited to pay attention, to be more attentive to the world around us, learning to open our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to pay attention, to notice…all that this beautiful, miraculous world has to show us and teach us…
But, it can’t stop there with just pausing and noticing the splendor of the whole creation, the beauty of this world, the wonder of life, and the mystery of love in all of creation.
It’s also a reminder to us to stop for a time to examine the ways our present day lifestyles are contributing to the destruction and depletion of the natural resources which sustain all of creation, to consider the ways we have hurt one another, and all of creation by our greed and selfishness, and to acknowledge our neglect and carelessness in not being faithful stewards of all that has been entrusted to our care.
It’s a time to begin again, with a renewed commitment to not only call creation good and lovely and beautiful, but to respond in gratitude for all the gifts of God and the people of God, by striving to truly love one another, share generously the abundant gifts of creation with all whom we share this earthly life with, and by working together to safeguard this wonderful earth, this wonderful world, and all its’ creatures, not only with our lips, but in our lives…not only for today, but for future generations…
“The miraculous is everywhere and in everything. Waiting for us to notice it. Waiting for us to appreciate it. Waiting for us to love it.” (Noticing Kobi Yamada)
Closing thoughts/prayer/song: What a Wonderful World (by George David Weiss & Bob Thiele, illustrated by Ashley Bryan)
I see trees of green, red roses too, I see them bloom for me and you, and I think to myself, “What a wonderful world!”
I see skies of blue and clouds of white, the bright, blessed day, the dark, sacred night, and I think to myself, “What a wonderful world!”
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky are also on the faces of people going by. I see friends shaking hands, saying, “How do you do?” They’re really saying, “I love you.”
I hear babies cry, I watch them grow. They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know, and I think to myself, “What a wonderful world!”
Yes, I think to myself… “What a wonderful world!”…amen…
Rev Julie Platson, Rector/St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK