September 26

Ps 148:7 Praise the LORD from the earth,

sea creatures and all ocean depths,

8 fire and hail, snow and mist,

stormy winds that fulfill his command;

9 Mountains and all hills,

fruit trees and all cedars,

10 beasts, both wild and tame,

reptiles and birds on the wing.

 

That Nature is a Heraclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection (Hopkins)

Cloud-puffball, torn tufts, tossed pillows | flaunt forth, then chevy on an air-
built thoroughfare: heaven-roysterers, in gay-gangs | they throng; they glitter in marches.
Down roughcast, down dazzling whitewash, | wherever an elm arches,
Shivelights and shadowtackle in long | lashes lace, lance, and pair.
Delightfully the bright wind boisterous | ropes, wrestles, beats earth bare
Of yestertempest's creases; in pool and rut peel parches
Squandering ooze to squeezed | dough, crust, dust; stanches, starches
Squadroned masks and manmarks | treadmire toil there
Footfretted in it. Million-fuelèd, | nature's bonfire burns on.
But quench her bonniest, dearest | to her, her clearest-selvèd spark
Man, how fast his firedint, | his mark on mind, is gone!
Both are in an unfathomable, all is in an enormous dark
Drowned. O pity and indig | nation! Manshape, that shone
Sheer off, disseveral, a star, | death blots black out; nor mark
Is any of him at all so stark
But vastness blurs and time | beats level. Enough! the Resurrection,
A heart's-clarion! Away grief's gasping, | joyless days, dejection.
Across my foundering deck shone
A beacon, an eternal beam. | Flesh fade, and mortal trash
Fall to the residuary worm; | world's wildfire, leave but ash:
In a flash, at a trumpet crash,
I am all at once what Christ is, | since he was what I am, and
This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, | patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,
Is immortal diamond.

Meditation

It is never too late. God’s world has incredible healing powers; and human choices can change the tide in global warming. Within a single generation, we could steer earth toward our children’s future. With God’s blessing and help, that generation can begin now. For the first time in the history of our world, we recognize that our decisions and choices directly impact the environment. It is up to us to shape our future; it is up to us to choose our destiny. Breaking the vicious circle of ecological degradation is a choice with which we are uniquely endowed, at this crucial moment in the history of our planet. (Bartholomew I)

Musical Selection (Doxecology)

Where are you, in the storm,
in the chaos can you hear
our desperate call?
Water rising, are you sleeping:
are you Lord after all?

Where are you, in the rain?
Earth is crying 
for an end to all its pain.
We are sinking, heaven weeping:
will we see light again?

In the storm, you’re the anchor,
you are our hope, you are the shield.
Every rainbow a promise:
you love this world,
all of creation will be healed.

O speak your mighty word;
raging waters will bow down 
before their Lord.
Peace commanding, promise keeping:
of a planet restored.

Prayer