A Prayer for Creation

September 1st is the World Day of Prayer for Creation, and many Christian denominations celebrate a whole season of creation from Sept 1 - Oct 4 (the feast of St. Francis of Assisi).  I was preparing an article for our church newsletter and looking around online I couldn't find a prayer that I really liked so I wrote my own for people to pray on Sept 1st and throughout the whole season of creation.

"Spirit of Life, that calls all creation into being, help us to recognize our intimate connection to the whole universe, and to honor that connection with mutual love and respect for the world around us and all of its inhabitants.  Giver and Sustainer of Life, move us to think, speak, and act with compassion, to recognize your presence all around us each day.  Help us to cultivate lives that honor that sacred presence so that those who come after us will still be able to delight in your wonder, beauty, and awe present throughout creation.  We ask for your wisdom, strength, and courage to do what needs to be done to care for our common home.  Amen" 

Room for the Unimaginable

"Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable" 

~ Mary Oliver

This quote was used in an opening prayer for a meeting I had this afternoon and it really struck me.  I read it as "keep room in your heart for God's Grace" because the gift of God's loving presence (aka grace) usually shows up in ways I could never have imagined.  

Most of us, myself included, live in a world that is very busy and very planned out.  We have schedules and routines; we have goals we set and plans to achieve those goals.  We fill up our time.  And the question that this quote brings up for me is, "As we fill up our schedules, are we also filling up our heart?"  Are we so busy doing, achieving, or 'sticking to the plan' that we don't have space to recognize and embrace God's grace when we are gifted with it?  And if so, are we really embracing all that life and God have to offer us?  Because in reflecting on my life, the best parts of it today, many of the best people in it, were totally unimaginable before they presented themselves.

One person I thought of immediately when I saw this quote was my husband.  Our relationship, our marriage, was totally unimaginable to me before it happened.  I went to Peru with my own plan, goals, and expectations.  And then God, as God often does, shook things up.  I was challenged to reflect on if I did have enough room in my heart to welcome in this unexpected love, this new relationship, that wasn't part of my plan.  And I am so grateful that I did!  

I also think of my two amazing nephews (who are coming to spend a week with me next week!) who were both unimaginable gifts to our family.  I am grateful that my sister had space in her heart to welcome in and embrace the unimaginable, gifting us all with the love and lives of these two wonderful boys.  

The paradox of this reality of holding space in our hearts for the unimaginable is that the more I fill it with new people and experiences, the greater my capacity to love grows.  There seems to be no limit, space keeps opening up if I allow it.  And in this ever increasing love I have for the unimaginable world and the human beings who inhabit it, I enter deeper into the mystery of the divine who is infinite love.   

May we all hold space in our hearts and our daily schedules for the unimaginable to enter in, interrupt in the best way possible, challenge and change us, and grow our infinite capacity to love.  Amen