This prayer was created by the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly for use in UnitingJustice’s 2016 World Environment Day resource. This resource includes other reflections, prayers and ideas for churches and individuals wishing to engage with World Environment Day (Sunday 5 June).
Creator God, breath and source of life, in love you called the world into being and in grace you made us and call us your children.
We stand in awe of the wonder of your creation: its beauty and wildness; complexity and power; resilience and fragility.
God of life, you call us to be participants in the web and wellspring of life: to be nurtured by the planet; to be nurturing of the planet; to cherish the world and all that lives. But we have failed and creation groans under our weight.
God of grace, forgive us in our brokenness: when we have taken too much from the earth; when we have not spoken out against greed and destruction; when we have allowed our most vulnerable neighbours to be harmed. We seek courage and forgiveness to be made whole.
God of love, we pray for those people, communities and nations already suffering the devastating effects of climate change; and we pray for the diversity of life on earth, so much of it already threatened by our actions.
God of hope, we pray for the world’s leaders Bless them with wisdom and creativity, and a shared vision of hope for all creation. May they find the determination to take strong action against climate change, and the political will to act together for the common good.
Creator God, we pray for us all, that we might restore our relationships with each other and work together to heal the earth.
Renew us in your grace for the sake of your creation. Amen.
No matter the religion or denomination in which we are raised, our spirituality still comes through the first filter of our own life experience. We must begin to be honest about this instead of pretending that any of us are formed exclusively by scriptures or our churches or religious traditions. There is no such thing as an entirely unbiased position. The best we can do is own and be honest about our own filters. God allows and invites us to trust our own experience.
In celebration of Resthaven’s 90th anniversary, and coinciding with South Australia’s History Festival (1-31 May), Resthaven has today, 7 May 2025, launched its new ‘living history’ website: Resthaven: A History of Caring.
I am just like you. My immediate response to most situations is with reactions of attachment, defensiveness, judgment, control, and analysis. I am better at calculating than contemplating. Let’s admit that most of us start there. The false self seems to have the “first gaze” at almost everything.
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