Season of Creation (Day 13)
September 13, 2025
September 13
Ps 104:23 Man goes forth to his work,
to labor till evening falls.
Celebration (Levertov)
Brilliant, this day – a young virtuoso of a day.
Morning shadow cut by sharpest scissors,
deft hands. And every prodigy of green –
whether it's ferns or lichens or needles
or impatient points of buds on spindly bushes –
greener than ever before. And the way the conifers
hold new cones to the light for the blessing,
a festive right, and sing the oceanic chant the wind
transcribes for them!
A day that shines in the cold
like a first-prize brass band swinging along
the street
of a coal-dusty village, wholly at odds
with the claims of reasonable gloom.
Meditation
In this regard, the psalmist’s song inspires us: “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty” (Ps 29:3-4). That voice commits the Church to speak prophetically, even when it calls for the courage to oppose the destructive power of the princes of this world. The unbreakable covenant between Creator and his creatures inspires our minds and galvanizes our efforts to ensure that evil may turn into good, injustice into justice, and greed to sharing. (Pope Leo XIV)
Musical Selection (Doxecology)
At your bidding there was beginning,
at your summons this world was formed,
all things living brought into being
by the power of your word.
You saw that it was good,
you saw that it was good,
help us give you thanks
with the praise and awe we should.
at your summons this world was formed,
all things living brought into being
by the power of your word.
You saw that it was good,
you saw that it was good,
help us give you thanks
with the praise and awe we should.
For all your ways are good,
yes, all your ways are good;
God of all creation,
all your ways are good.
In this garden that you have given,
we were hungry for all its fruit,
so we plundered the earth and oceans,
seizing more than we were due.
We stole from what was good,
we stole from what was good,
help us face the truth
with the honesty we should.
For all your ways are good…
we were hungry for all its fruit,
so we plundered the earth and oceans,
seizing more than we were due.
We stole from what was good,
we stole from what was good,
help us face the truth
with the honesty we should.
For all your ways are good…
As the planet longs for redemption,
spoiled and reeling from nature’s loss,
we remember the source of healing
flowing out from Jesus’ cross.
You came down for our good,
you came down for our good,
help us look to you
with the hope and faith we should.
For all your ways are good…
spoiled and reeling from nature’s loss,
we remember the source of healing
flowing out from Jesus’ cross.
You came down for our good,
you came down for our good,
help us look to you
with the hope and faith we should.
For all your ways are good…
If we bow down and seek your mercy,
will you hear us and still forgive?
Holy Spirit, make us determined
to reshape the way we live.
Restore all that is good,
restore all that is good,
help us change our hearts
so we show the care we should.
will you hear us and still forgive?
Holy Spirit, make us determined
to reshape the way we live.
Restore all that is good,
restore all that is good,
help us change our hearts
so we show the care we should.
For all your ways are good…
Prayer
Blessed God, fountain of life: Grant that we may see all
water as holy, and so protect and preserve the waters of
the earth and the life they sustain. In the name of Christ,
the living water, we pray. Amen. (ECUSA)