Prayer for the Land

From Black Liturgies, by Arthur Cole Riley

God of creature and sky,

We have not protected the divine in all of creation.

We have forgotten our origins, placing ourselves as superior to the very earth that formed us.

Humble us, God; shake us from the belief that we are capable of ruling over the earth when we cannot even care for humanity.

Remind us just how young we are in comparison to the cosmos.

We are no saviors; make us learners.

Make us listen for and heed the quiet things whispered by the soil and sea.

Free us from our narcissism as we look on the suffering of other creatures and find our souls at last stirred.

And as we become honest about our flagrant degradation of land, may we protect those countries and peoples who have disproportionately suffered the greed of the powerful.

May we listen to the Indigenous wisdom in our midst, those who have long warned us that this land does not belong to us—that our ownership of it is our collective delusion.

As we look up from the lie, may we find tree and star and dirt, and become the earth’s meekest disciples and fiercest protectors.

Amen.

Breathe

INHALE: I know this place.

EXHALE: This is holy ground.

INHALE: I am rooted.

EXHALE: I am home.

INHALE: Take me where it’s safe.

EXHALE: God, prepare a place.