Above:  Clouds Over Ocean

Image Source = Tiago Fioreze

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Clouds_over_the_Atlantic_Ocean.jpg)

Words by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)

Prayer Source = Book of Common Worship (1993), of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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Lord, may we love all your creation,

all the earth and every grain of sand in it.

May we love every leaf, every ray of your light.

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May we love the animals;

you have given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.

Let us not trouble it;

let us not harass them,

let us not deprive them of their happiness,

let us not work against your intent.

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For we acknowledge  unto you that all is like an ocean,

all is flowing and blending,

and that to withhold any measure of love from anything in your universe

is to withhold that same measure from you.  Amen.

Sunset

Image Source = Chad Teer

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sunset_in_Coquitlam.jpg)

A prayer from the Ethiopian Orthodox liturgy, quoted in In Spirit and In Truth:  A Worship Book, published in 1991 for the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches

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Remember, Lord, the down-coming of the rains and waters and rivers, and bless them.

Remember, Lord, the plants and the seeds and the fruits of the fields of every year, bless them and make them abundant.

Remember, Lord, the safety of your holy church and all the cities and countries.

Remember, Lord, the safety of humankind and of beasts and of me, your sinful servant.

Remember, Lord, our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep and gone to their rest.

Remember, Lord, the captives of your people, and bring them again in peace to their dwelling place.

Remember, Lord, the afflicted and distressed.

Remember, Lord, your servants, the poor who are under oppression, have pity upon them and keep them in the right faith and make them a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, through our spiritual joy and the love of humankind.  Amen.

Nile Delta, Egypt

Image Source = NASA, via Wikipedia

A prayer from the Coptic Orthodox liturgy, quoted in In Spirit and In Truth:  A Worship Book, published in 1991 for the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of Churches

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Pray for the raising of river waters this year,

that Christ, our Lord,

may bless it and raise it to its measure,

grant a cheerful touch

unto the lands,

support the human beings,

save the cattle

and forgive us our sins.

Lord, have mercy.

Pray for the trees, vegetations

and land plantations this year,

that Christ, our Lord, may bless them

to grow and bring forth

plentiful fruit, have compassion on his creation

and forgive us our sins.

Lord, have mercy.

Accord it, O Lord, a cheerful touch unto the earth,

water it,

and dispose of our life as deemed fit.

Crown this year with your goodness,

for the sake of the poor of your people,

the widow, the orphan, the stranger

and for our sake.

For our eyes are focused upon you, our hope,

and seek your holy name.

You provide us our food in due course.

Deal with us, O Lord, according to your goodness,

you, the feeder of everybody.

Fill our hearts with joy and grace,

that, as we always have sufficiently of all things,

we grow in every good deed.

Amen.

A Farm

Image Source = Wikipedia

Words by the Reverend Frank von Christierson (1900-1996), who wrote this hymn in 1960

I found the original words, which follow, in Volume Three B of The Hymnal 1982 Companion (1994).  All 1972-2006 that hymnals I checked and which included this hymn included altered words, usually with “saints” becoming “men” or “those,” or “Thou” transforming into “You.”   The hymn has been in print since 1961.  1961-1971 hymnals I consulted did not contain this hymn.

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1.  As saints of old their first fruits brought

Of orchard, flock, and field

To God the Giver of all good,

The Source of bounteous yield;

So we today first fruits would bring–

The wealth of this good land,

Of farm and market, shop and home,

Of mind, and heart, and hand.

2.  A world in need now summons us

To labor, love, and give;

To make our life an offering

To God, that man may live;

The Church of Christ is calling us,

To make the dream come true:

A world redeemed by Christ-like love;

All life in Christ made new.

3.  In gratitude and humble trust

We bring our best to thee

To serve thy cause and share thy love

With all humanity.

O Thou who gavest us thyself

In Jesus Christ thy Son,

Teach us to give ourselves each day

Until life’s work is done.

Galaxy NGC 2841

Image Source = NASA

(http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1867.html)

Hymn Source = The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

Words from the Scottish Psalter (1650), of The Church of Scotland; based on Psalm 36

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1.  Thy mercy, Lord, is in the heavens;

thy truth doth reach the clouds;

thy justice is like mountains great,

thy judgements deep as floods.

2.  Lord, thou preservest man and beast:

how precious is thy grace!

Therefore in shadow of thy wings

men’s sons their trust shall place.

3.  Their hunger thou shalt satisfy

with good things from thy store:

from rivers of thy pleasures they

shall drink and thirst no more.

4.  With thee the fountain is of life

and from thy presence flows;

and brightens from thy dwelling place

out to all people goes.

Cardinal

Image Source = U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Hymn Source = The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971)

Words by Mary Susanne Edgar (1889-1973), Canadian Anglican poet

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1.  God who touchest earth with beauty,

make my heart anew;

with thy Spirit recreate me

pure, and strong, and true.

2.  Like thy springs and running waters,

make me crystal pure;

like thy rocks of towering grandeur,

make me strong and sure.

3.  Like thy dancing waves in sunlight,

make me glad and free;

like the straightness of the pine trees

let me upright be.

4.  Like the arching of the heavens

lift my thoughts above;

turn my dreams to noble action,

ministries of love.

5.  Like the birds that soar while singing,

give my heart a song;

may the music of thanksgiving

echo clear and strong.

6.  God who touchest earth with beauty,

make my heart anew;

keep me ever by thy Spirit

pure, and strong, and true.

Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois

Source = Dustin M. Ramsey, 2001

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Morton_Arboretum_woodland.jpg)

Hymn Source = The Hymnal (1933), of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Words by the Reverend Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858-1901), U.S. Presbyterian minister, humanitarian, and admirer of nature

A link to my post about him, with all the verses:

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/02/07/feast-of-maltbie-davenport-babcock-may-18/

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1.  This is my Father’s world,

And to my listening ears,

All nature sings, and round me rings

The music of the spheres.

This is my Father’s world:

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;

His hand the wonders wrought.

2.  This is my Father’s world,

The birds their carols raise,

The morning light, the lily white,

Declare their Maker’s praise.

This is my Father’s world:

He shines in all that’s fair;

In the rustling grass

I hear him pass,

He speaks to me everywhere.

3.  This is my Father’s world,

O let me ne’er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong

God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father’s world:

The battle is not done;

Jesus who died shall be satisfied,

And earth and heaven be one.

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/proper-29-year-c/

Beaufort Sea

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Methodist Hymnal (1965), of The Methodist Church

Words by Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

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1.  I sing th’almighty power of God,

That made the mountains rise,

That spread the flowing seas abroad,

And built the lofty skies.

I sing the wisdom that ordained

The sun to rule the day;

The moon shines full at his command,

And all the stars obey.

2.  I sing the goodness of the Lord,

That filled the earth with food;

He formed the creatures with his Word,

And then pronounced them good.

Lord, how thy wonders are displayed,

Where’er I turn my eye,

If I survey the ground I tread,

Or gaze upon the sky!

3.  There’s not a plant or flower below,

But makes thy glories known;

And clouds arise, and tempests blow,

By order from thy throne;

While all that borrows life from thee

Is ever in thy care,

And everywhere that man can be,

Thou, God, art present there.

A Wadi in the Negev Desert

Image Source = Wikipedia

Prayer Source = James G. Kirk, When We Gather:  A Book of Prayers for Worship, Year C (Philadelphia, PA:  Geneva Press, 1985)

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Great Guide and Deliverer, you make a way in the wilderness and cause rivers to flow in the desert; we come repeating your name in glad adoration.  You have led your people through wastelands where wild beasts and jackals even honor your name.  We number ourselves as among those you have chosen.  Hear us as in Christ we come before you, declaring you worthy of all worship and praise.

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/devotion-for-the-fifth-sunday-in-lent-lcms-daily-lectionary/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/fifth-sunday-in-lent-year-c/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/fifth-sunday-in-lent-year-b/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/fifth-sunday-in-lent-year-a/

Rays of Light

Image Source = Wikipedia

Text Source = Gates of the House:  The New Union Prayerbook–Prayers and Readings for Home and Synagogue (New York:  Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1977), p. 222

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There exists a silent, immanent language, a secret tongue,

It has no sound, syllable, only shade of hues:

Enchantments, splendid pictures, hosts of visions.

In this tongue God makes Himself known to those His spirit chooses,

In it the Royal Emissary of the world reflects upon His thoughts,

The Artist Creator embodies the thought of His heart,

And in it finds the solution of the unexpressed dream.

It is the language of images revealed

In a strip of blue sky and in its expanse,

In the purity of small clouds and in their dark mass,

In the tremor of golden wheat, in the pride of mighty cedars,

In the rustle of a dove’s pure wing,

And in the eaglewing’s sweep,

In the beauty of the human body, in the aura of a glance,

In the sea’s wrath, in the wave’s caprice and play,

In the overflowing night, in the silence of falling stars,

In the roar of light, in the rumble of sea flaming

With sunrises and sunsets…