Suggestion: ’Refresh’ each page before reading to make sure to get my latest edition
‘The Other Lectionary’ - a suggested ‘southern hemisphere’ Lectionary (with a few Resources added)
offered in parallel to, or even replacement of, the RCL which is in standard use by many.
A GATHERING LITURGY FOR THE
CELEBRATION OF LIFE
“...in the end the universe can only be explained in terms of celebration.
It is all an exuberant expression of existence itself”
25 September 2022. Season of Creation4/Pentecost 15C. (Green).
Cosmos Sunday
Acknowledgement of Country/First Peoples
(An act towards reconciliation)
For thousands of years Indigenous people have walked
in this land, on their own country.
Their relationship with the land is at the centre of their lives.
We acknowledge the (NN) People of the (NN) Nation, past, present, and emerging leaders,
and their stewardship of this land throughout the ages.
First Peoples Statement to the Nation 2017 called “Uluru Statement from the Heart” HERE
A Response from Common Dreams5 Conference of Religious Progressives,
Australia/South Pacific 2019 HERE
And we recognise and give thanks that we humans
are creatures of the Earth living in the ecosystem
—flowers, trees and insects; land, waters and mountain range—
that is unique to (NN).
May we honour one another and honour life itself.
(NN) is a safe place for all people to worship regardless of
race, creed, age, cultural background or sexual orientation
GATHERING
Rich and Striking Visuals
“The function of beauty… is to make us aware of a reality which is richer and deeper
and more marvellous than anything we can dream or conceive.” (Henry N. Wieman)
Artwork OR Floral/Symbols display (cloths, candles, stones, wood, leaves, flowers, earth, water) OR projection of Film/Video
Gathering Music
Silence
The gong is sounded three times
Lighting of the Community Candle
The Community Candle is lit
This flame is warm as the companionship of friends is warm.
Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life.
Entry into the Celebration
v2 Fountain of life…
Pulse of life…Breath of life…
All Earth is filled with the presentness of God.
v1 Holy! Holy! Holy!
The cosmos is filled with the presentness of God.
All Holy! Holy! Holy!
Earth is filled with the presentness of God.
v2 Together this day, let us sense
the face of God in all creativity.
Note: (i) A suggested process for introducing new hymns, called Hymn of the Month, can be found HERE
(ii) Additional Special Purpose Hymns that cover major international events or themes can be found HERE They include these categories: 1. Bush (Brush) Fire, 2. Tsunami, Storms/Cyclones, 3. Earthquakes, 4. War/Remembrance, 5. Caregiving, 6. God as Mother, 7. Human Trafficking, 8. Disabled, 9. Migration/Refugees, 10. Terrorist Attacks, 11. Science/Cosmology
(iii) Specific resources on Terrorism HERE
(iv) On Wonder, Awe, and Nature HERE
Hymn/Song The people stand as they are able, to sing
"God of the Galaxies" (Tune: ‘Cheam') 54(v1-3) AA
God of the galaxies spinning in space,
God of the smallest seed, our living source,
yours is the gift of this beautiful place.
Let us care for your gardenand honour the earth.
Careless and covetous, gross are our greeds,
taking the riches the garden provides,
wasting its goodness, forgetting its needs.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth.
Forests and rivers are ravaged and die,
raped is the land till it bleeds in its clay,
silenced the birdsong and plundered the sea.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth.
Remain standing
Opening Sentences
The spirit of Creativity God has hovered over the waters…
We invite the cosmos to gather with us:
All We invite glittering galaxies high in the sky
to radiate the splendour of God’s presence.
We call distant domains of space to celebrate with us.
All We invite nebula, nova and black holes
to thank God for their fascinating formation.
We summon that piece of stardust called Earth,
All To pulse with the rhythm of God's presence
and celebrate God's glory in this planet garden.
We invite millions of living species to dance with life,
All The turtle, the toad and the elephant,
the earthworm, the ant and the dragonfly.
We invite every creature in the web of creation
All To consciously connect with others
in this community called the cosmos.
Dance creation, dance!
All Dance with cosmic energy! (Norman Habel/soc)
(Silence)
Words of Awareness
In the midst of our everyday
when life is full
and we are about all those things we are about,
we scarcely have time to fit it all in.
And yet, here we are,
squeezing into this not-so-special-anymore day
a moment to glimpse the Holy,
to step out of time
into a timelessness of awe.
With those who have gone this way before,
and those who have yet to venture forth,
we travel roads of wonder
and give thanks. (Gretta Vosper/hb)
OR
We pray:
As we reflect on the mysteries of the cosmos,
we celebrate our connectedness to this vast web of life.
May we connect with all living beings.
May we sense the presentness of God in the stars and the planets.
May we care for the oceans, the earth and the air.
May it be so.
Hymn/Song (Cont.) "God of the Galaxies" (Tune: ‘Cheam') 54(v4-5) AA
Let there be beauty, and let there be air
fragrant with peace, never poisoned with fear,
freed from the plagues of pollution and war.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth.
Life is a holy thing, life is a whole,
linking each creature and blessing us all,
making connections of body and soul.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth. Shirley Erena Murray
The people sit after the hymn/song
Welcome
In your own words
A warm welcome is extended to all.
Especially those who are gathering at (NN for the first time
or who have returned after an absence.
Your presence both enriches us and this time of celebration together.
Refer to printed liturgy.
Fellowship hour following the Gathering
Those visiting, please sign our Visitors book.
OR
A warm welcome is extended to all.
Especially those who may be joining us for a first time.
Your presence enriches this gathering and contributes to
the creative evolution of community.
Thanks for the gift of you! (Central United, Moncton, Canada)
Remembering
Today’s theme is Cosmos Sunday.
A eucalyptus leaf was given to you as you entered.
Smell the leaf and rub it between your fingers,
and share with the person next to you
times when you were acutely conscious
of the vast world of time and space.
Conversation
Centering Silence
Centering silence has its roots in the earliest of monastic traditions of the ‘desert Fathers (abbas)/Mothers (ammas)’
and the Christian mystic tradition… Relaxing into ‘quietness’ creates the space for deep listening and draws you into yourself
We remember moments of wonder,
sensing the infinite world of space,
feeling the mystery of the moment.
All We remember and rejoice.
Now away from the busyness of life
and in the silence of this sacred place,
let us give thanks for the gift of life,
and the mystery of an endless horizon
stretching out across the universe.
(Silence)
Dance, creation, dance!
All We give thanks for living cosmos
so much a part of who we are!
Music of Celebration
EXPLORING
Wisdom from the World/Religious Traditions
“Wisdom is not just special knowledge about something. Wisdom is a way of being, a way of inhabiting the world.
The beauty of wisdom is harmony, belonging and illumination of thought, action, heart and mind.” (John O’Donohue)
Reader: In effortless phrases, well-worn upon our lips,
simple forms of inspiration catch us, and call to us again.
All As these words settle into our minds,
may we feel them stir and lift our hearts. (Gretta Vosper/ab)
• "Beginning Religion with Cosmology instead of the Human"
Matthew Fox. Daily Meditations. 10 July 2021
[The sacredness in creation]… is not something new to begin with cosmology—Genesis One does that.
Indigenous peoples do that.
But it has been lost during the modern era, an era notorious for its anthropocentrism
and war against nature, the price of which is the decimation of millions of species,
climate change and other dire realities we face today.
Finding God in nature is not a new thing for religion—it is an old truth
that was discarded in great part when patriarchy, power trips and the Discovery doctrine
took over western history at the very moment European ships set sail
and encountered indigenous peoples in the “new worlds”
and a century later seized people from Africa to make them slaves.
Creation spirituality is all about turning from anthropocentrism to begin spirituality (the experience of the divine)
not with the part (humanity) but with the whole—creation.
Geologian Thomas Berry challenges his Christian tradition
to reset itself in the context of the whole, of the universe itself, when he says:
“If Saint John and Saint Paul could think of the Christ form of the universe, if Aquinas could say that the whole universe together participates in the divine goodness more perfectly and represents it better than any single creature whatever, and if Teilhard could insist that the human gives to the entire cosmos its most sublime mode of being, then it should not be difficult to accept the universe itself as the primordial sacred community, the macrophase mode of every religious tradition, the context in which the divine reality is revealed to itself in that diversity which in a special manner is ‘the perfection of the universe’.”
A deepened awareness of the earth and the cosmos can bring nations together — and can also bring religions together. For “the universe itself [is] the primordial sacred community.”
It is the context of every divine revelation...
The sacred cosmos does not just inspire the Christian tradition but all religious traditions.
As I pointed out in my book on The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, there is no such thing
as a Buddhist ocean, a Catholic river, a Lutheran rainforest or a Baptist moon.
A creation-centered spirituality resets all our religions in the context of the cosmos.
And its child, the earth.
OR
• Luke 16:19-31 (Inclusive Text)
Jesus told the following story:
'There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen
and feast magnificently every day.
And at the gate there lay a beggar called Lazarus,
covered with sores, who longed to fill himself
with the scraps that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even came and licked his sores.
Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels
to be in the company of Sarah and Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Sarah and Abraham a long way off
and Lazarus resting in their company.
So the rich man cried out,
"Sarah and Abraham, pity me
and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am in agony in these flames."
"My child," they replied, "remember that during your life
good things came your way,
just as bad things came the way of Lazarus.
“Now Lazarus is being comforted here
while you are in agony. But that is not all:
between us and you a great gulf has been fixed,
to stop anyone wanting to, crossing from our side
to yours, and to stop any crossing from your side to ours."
The rich man replied,
"I beg you then to send Lazarus to my family house,
since I have five brothers, to give them warning
so they do not come to this place of torment too."
"They have Moses and the prophets," they replied,
"let them listen to them."
"Ah, no, Sarah and Abraham," said the rich man,
"but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent."
Then they answered,
"If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets,
they will not be convinced even if someone
should rise from the dead.”
• “Return to Wonder” (Extract)
By SueEllen Campbell. The Face of the Earth/292
The more we understand our Earth and its part in the 14 billion-year old cosmos,
the more reason we have to stand in awe and reverence at the process which lured and shaped its evolution,
our evolution, wherein our existence is rooted…
It streaks through space with the galaxy and with the solar system.
It loops around the sun.
It moves through sunlight, around and around, north to south to north.
It spins, wobbles, and tilts.
Its atmosphere roils and flows in great waves and whirlpools.
Hurricanes and tornadoes spin across its surface; rainstorms, blizzards, and summer breezes form, move, hesitate, and disappear.
Plants grow green, sometimes red and gold, brown, and green again; stalks and leaves materialize from nowhere, then vanish.
Waters slosh back and forth across vast basins, circling in gyres, splashing against the edges of the land.
Caterpillars wrap themselves in silk and emerge as butter-flies, drink nectar, pollinate flowers, lay eggs, then die.
Pieces of land slide around the surface, tear, collide, vanish; new rock rises from deep below,
flows like burning water into the open air.
Ice and snow expand and melt.
Forests burn and grow again.
Cities grow and crumble.
Birds and airplanes fly between continents; mammals walk or drive hundreds of miles;
sea creatures rise through fathoms, then sink.
Hummingbirds hone their beaks in crabapple trees, both breathing, oxygen or carbon dioxide in, carbon dioxide or oxygen out.
This—this wonderful moving kaleidoscope—is the face of the earth.
OR
• “Waking in the Cosmos”
By Catherine de Vinck. (Published in The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale)
Not alien, yet too vast to imagine, this place we call home,
this solitary jewel,
sapphire on the throat of space.
Do we have eyes for the patch of earth in the backyard?
Do we feel the power of roots pushing the single grass blade to the light?
Yet sometimes an archaic memory stirs us awake.
We remember we are not alone, orphans lost in planetary storms.
We swim breast to breast
with other luminous bodies.
Within our blood
stars flash their signals,
rivers circuit their courses,
seas fluctuate rhythmically
while the dust of dead constellations mingles with our bones.
Turbulence, disorder, chaos define the necessity
to translate the song of the ocean,
to transect the arc of the sun,
the orbit of the moon.
We are the voice of plants, of animals, of stones.
We speak for galaxies
as well as for the common violet
both sisterly near, both alive, wedded to our fleshy heart.
Season of Creation4 Gospel: (Open English Bible/A New New Testament)
• John 6: 41-44, 47-51
The Judeans began murmuring against Jesus for saying: 'I am the bread which came down from heaven'.
"Is this not Jesus, Joseph's son," they asked, "whose father and mother we know?
How is it that he now says that he has come down from heaven?"
"Do not murmur among yourselves," said Jesus in reply.
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me
draws him to me; and I will raise that one up
at the last day...
"In truth I tell you, the person who trusts in me has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, and yet died.
The bread that comes down from heaven is such that
whoever eats it will never die.
"I am the living bread that has come down from heaven.
Anyone eating of this bread will live into the ages;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world."
OR
• The Gospel of Truth 19: 1-7 (Open English Bible/A New New Testament)
For the Father is sweet and within his desire is goodness.
He knows what is yours in which you might find rest.
For by the fruits one knows what is yours.
The Father's children are his fragrance
for they are from the beauty of his face.
Because of this, the Father loves his fragrance
and discloses it everywhere,
and when it mixes with matter it gives his fragrance to the light.
And in his tranquility he makes it surpass every form and every sound.
For ears do not smell the fragrance,
but it is breath and spirit that smells
and draws the fragrance to itself.
Contemporary Exploration
A Sermon suitable for this day can be found in my book, Against the Stream. Progressive Christianity Between Pulpit and Pew.
Silence for Personal Reflection
AFFIRMING
A Litany (Optional)
In response to the word reflected on, and in solidarity with the Universe
and all who dwell therein,
let us stand and share a contemporary litany.
The people stand as they are able
Out of the stars in their flight,
out of the dust of eternity,
All here have we come,
Stardust and sunlight, mingling
through time and through space.
Out of the stars have we come, up from time;
Out of the stars have we come.
All Time out of time before time
in the vastness of space,
earth spun to orbit the sun,
Earth with the thunder of
mountains newborn, the boiling of seas.
All Earth warmed by sun, lit by sunlight:
This is our home;
Out of the stars have we come.
Mystery hidden in mystery, back through all time;
Mystery rising from rocks in the storm and the sea.
All Out of the stars, rising from rocks and the sea,
kindled by sunlight on earth, arose life.
Ponder this thing in your heart;
ponder with awe:
All Out of the sea to the land,
out of the shallows came ferns.
Out of the sea to the land,
up from darkness to light,
Rising to walk and to fly,
out of the sea trembled life.
All Ponder this thing in your heart, life up from sea:
Eyes to behold, throats to sing, mates to love.
Life from the sea,
warmed by sun, washed by rain,
All life from within, giving birth, rose to love.
This is the wonder of time;
this is the marvel of space;
All out of the stars swung the earth;
life upon earth rose to love.
This is the marvel of life,
rising to see and to know;
All Out of your heart, cry wonder:
sing that we live. Robert Weston/slt
OR
A Cosmic Credo
v1 I believe in the Cosmos and its processes
as a reflection and embodiment of the Mystery within and beyond it,
the nameless Mystery which I dare to call God.
All I celebrate the creative, transforming and empowering processes
and discern these both in the life and death of Jesus Christ
and in the continuing celebration of his existence.
v2 I believe that forgiveness is of the essence of love,
that change is of the essence of life,
and that the individual only finds complete fulfillment in community.
All I see death as part of a process of the recycling of life
and the transformation of memory
and the unity of energy
as part of the heaven of the eternal NOW.
v3 This is the way which I seek to walk
with courage, compassion and with a song in my heart.
All So be it. (William L Wallace)
Sharing 'The Peace’
Let us take a moment to celebrate each other.
May a heart of peace rest with you.
All And also with you. (David Galston/q)
You are invited to share the peace with your neighbours.
OR
Namaste
Facing the person with right hand on your heart and a slight bow of the head…
The Divine in me honours the Divine in you.
OR
The Light in me recognises the Light in you.
OR
The spirit within me sees the spirit within you.
Offerings
CELEBRATING COMMUNITY IN THE BANQUET OF THE COSMOS (Optional)
Presentation
Beginnings and endings shape this meal gathering today.
We celebrate a faithful, strong past.
We prepare for a future yet to be conceived.
We call it the rhythm of life.
Thanksgiving
v1 May it be well with you.
All And also with you.
v1 Sacred is the cosmos, whirling, expanding, living, dying,
yearning for abundance and freedom.
All We come to this table awe-struck creatures
conscious that as we take these few short steps
the whole cosmos—gathered up in us—journeys with us, and in us.
v2 How can we not stand in wonder and awe.
Those same vast processes that created
galaxies and suns and stars and planets,
continue to shape our existence…
v1 Out of the Big Bang the stars;
All Out of the stardust the Earth;
Out of the molecules of the Earth, life.
v1 Earth was planted with the seeds of its future;
by the sacrifice of our sun,
Earth flowered forth.
In the human species, nature became conscious of itself
and open to fulfilment in thought and word and deed.
All Blessed be Earth.
v1 Blessed be Earth.
All Earth, our home.
v2 We celebrate the interconnectedness that is our life—all life.
Stardust and mountains,
the light at dusk and the moment of dawn;
wild flowers and rain forests;
gilled ones of river and sea
and the feathered ones of the air;
kangaroo and desert dingo,
earth-worm, butterfly, and bacteria;
First/Native Peoples and recent arrivals;
sacred wisdom of sages, and the consciousness of prophets.
v1 Every day we encounter the cosmos.
All It is our bodies, our food, our air, our everything.
v1 One thing is made up of all other things.
All Being and beauty flow freely through
all the universe in this great procession of life.
Bread and White Wine
v1 As we gather together to share and eat food
we also remember the stories around all the meals
in the wisdom tradition of the Galilean sage we call Jesus…
v2 Born of a woman and the Hebrew gene pool,
he was a creature of earth, a moment in the biological evolution of this planet.
v1 Like all human beings, he carried within himself
the signature of the supernovas
and the geology and life history of the Earth…
v2 For just as the Milky Way is the universe in the form of a galaxy,
and the Wedge-tailed Eagle is the universe in the form of a bird,
he was and we are, the universe in the form of a human.
All May we care for our planet.
May we nurture this piece of stardust!
May we celebrate with the cosmos!
(Silence)
v1 And so we remember the living tradition…
How, during a meal, he would take Bread, give thanks, break it,
and share it with both friend and stranger.
Bread is broken several times
v2 This piece of bread is the body of the whole cosmos.
Look deeply and you notice the sunshine in the bread,
the blue sky in the bread,
the clouds and the great earth in the bread.
The whole cosmos has come together
in order to bring to us this piece of bread.
(Short silence)
v1 And after conversation he would pour a cup of Wine,
offer thanks for it, and share it with all those with him.
White wine is poured out
v1 Wine, fruit of the vine, gift of nature.
v2 Since all food is cosmic and born of the sun and photosynthesis,
sharing a meal of bread and wine
renders the universe both sacred and intimate.
(Short silence)
v1 Bread and Wine,
Elements for life on Earth…
In solidarity with life…
Response
v2 In sharing this banquet, we in our time and place,
enter into a new relationship,
with sacred wisdom,
with the planet, and
with one another,
All to feel our kinship with all life,
to raise our voice in the service of life,
All to love kindness, and to seek justice,
to live in harmony
All and awaken to peace.
v2 May we sense the wonder of what might yet be.
All We are part of Earth
Earth is part of us.
v1 And as we consider this Earth, our home,
All may we continue to walk upon it
gently and with reverence.
Communion
The Bread and White Wine—with conversation—is served in small groups around the Gathering space
Hymn/Song People stand as they are able, to sing
“Celebrate the Cosmic Birthing” (Tune: ‘Hymn to Joy’)
Celebrate the cosmic birthing,
Flash of primal energy:
Swirling gases, densing matter
Stuff of galaxies to be.
Celebrate the life-force pulsing
through these 15 billion years,
Trillion, trillion stars emerging
From the cradle of the spheres.
Celebrate the white-heat furnace-
life evoking mother sun;
Celebrate her planet-offspring
Nine, in cosmic dance as one.
Celebrate her favoured daughter,
Earth, in cloak of fragile green;
Cragging rocks, and sounding ocean-
Surface-lashed, beneath serene.
Join the mystic dance of species,
Chaining, weaving, circling, one
Strong-competing, close depending,
Life swift ending, new begun.
Sing our sensefull keen awareness-
Form and sound, scent, taste and hue.
High achieving, passing, transient-
Living, dying born anew. (Ian Cairns)
OR
“This Hazy, Gleaming Veil” (Tune: ‘Garelochside’, SM)
This hazy, gleaming veil,
this milky skein of cloud,
the galaxy in which we live
this home that God has vowed;
A hundred billion stars
form that galactic space
these myriad pins of dancing light
are signings of God's grace.
This place of hopes and dreams
God gives into our hands,
and we are stewards of all its worth,
its rich majestic strands.
So limited our grasp
so narrow, human scope,
so much is still beyond our reach,
yet beauty frames our hope. (Andrew Pratt, 2004)
CELEBRATING
With the Children
Children gather on the conversation mat
Conversation:
"Somewhere someone:”
The kingdom of love is coming because:
All somewhere someone is kind when others are unkind,
somewhere someone shares with another in need,
somewhere someone refuses to hate, while others hate,
somewhere someone is patient - and waits in love,
somewhere someone returns good for evil,
somewhere someone serves another, in love,
somewhere someone is calm in a storm,
somewhere someone is loving everybody.
Is that someone you? (Binkley & McKeel/jke)
In Solidarity
Care Candle:
We are people of all ages who enter this space
bringing our joys and concerns.
Joys and Celebrations; Griefs and Concerns shared
Focused Thoughts:
Listening Response:
When we are grieving or sad,
When we are challenged,
When we need help,
All This flame guides us out of the darkness.
When we are cheerful,
When we celebrate,
When we accomplish a great task,
When we return to a place that makes us happy,
All This flame reminds us to share our happiness with others. (Adapt/APalmer)
And so we take a flame and light our special Care Candle…
The Care Candle is lit
For ourselves, for those named or remembered, and in solidarity with those
who have not the freedom to express their concern or celebration
for fear of discrimination or condemnation.
In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
of the presentness of the sacred among us,
and to see the new possibilities of the now.
The 'Abba' Prayer: (Optional)
You are invited to pray in the spirit of the Abba/Lord's Prayer, and in your original language, as that is appropriate
All Loving Presence, luminous in all creation,
hallowed be your name.
Thy kin-dom come.
May we reflect on earth
the yielding perfection of the heavens.
Help us to receive an illumined measure from the earth this day.
Forgive us when we trespass against others,
human and other than human,
as we forgive others who trespass against us.
Keep us on the path of wisdom
when we are tempted to take the selfish path.
May it be your rule we follow,
your power we exercise,
and your radiance that allures.
May this be the truth that guides our lives,
the ground from which our future will grow,
until we meet again. (Bruce Sanguin/dddc)
PARTING
Hymn/Song The people stand as they are able, to sing
“A Firemist and a Planet” (Tune: 'Thornbury', 76.76D). 343(v1-2) SLT
A firemist and a planet,
a crystal and a cell,
a starfish and a saurian,
and caves where ancients dwelt;
the sense of law and beauty,
a face turned from the sod
- some call it evolution,
and others call it God.
Haze on the far horizon,
the infinite tender sky,
the ripe, rich tints of [wheat]fields,
and wild geese sailing high;
and over high and low-land,
the charm of golden rod
- some people call it autumn,
and others call it God.
OR
“Spirit of Springtime” (Tune: ‘Verdure’) 59(1-2) FFS
Spirit if springtime in creation’s garden,
tingling the senses,
tickling the earth,
sap that is rising where the seed was sleeping,
push for a new world
coming to birth!
Heard in the song that sweeps from bush to ocean,
seen in the sunlight,
felt in the blood,
surge of delight at every greening, growing,
God in the promise, blossom from bud.
Remain standing
Parting Words
Let us take on this week’s life
with renewed hope and imagination…
The Community Candle is extinguished
Remembering again the wonder and the mystery of the Cosmos…
Will you care for Planet Earth?
All We will empathise with the oceans.
We will care for the fauna.
We will be sensitive to the cries of creation
in song and storm.
And we will celebrate life!
Words of Blessing
The blessing of God:
Star maker,
Friend maker,
Wisdom maker,
make and remake you all
in the image of God. (Ruth Burgess/bb)
All Amen! May it be so.
Hymn/Song (Cont) “A Firemist and a Planet” (Tune: 'Thornbury', 76.76D) 343(v3-4) SLT
Like tides on crescent sea-beach,
when moon's so new and thin,
into our hearts high yearnings
come welling, surging in,
come from the mystic ocean
whose rim not foot has trod
- some people call it longing,
and others call it God.
A sentry lone and frozen,
a mother starved for her brood,
and Socrates' dread hemlock,
and Jesus on the rood;
and millions, who, though nameless,
the straight, hard pathway trod,
- some call it consecration,
and others call it God. William H Carruth
OR
“Spirit of Springtime” (Tune: ‘Verdure’) 59(v3-4) FFS
Fresh as the rain that washes clean our vision,
keen as the wind on
Pentecost day,
bright as the Spirit in the life of Jesus,
bold as the mindset
thinking his way.
Springtime of hope from out of winter’s clutches,
warm us to witness
woo us to see
beauty will break through rotted leaves and ashes,
joy will erupt, and
life will leap free! (Shirley Erena Murray)
The people sit after the hymn/song
'This Week' at (NN)
Notices
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Significant Events
Journey Candles
Music
Fellowship
Morning tea is now served
You are invited to share in this time of fellowship
Connecting With Nature
Some hints from Kai Siedenburg. Poems of Earth and Spirit
1. In the early morning…
Greet the day. Notice the sunrise, sky, and weather. Take a few deep breaths and perhaps give thanks
Step outside, breathe in the air, and take in the sights and sounds. Notice if birds or other natural neighbours are out and about
If you have a garden, visit your plants and see what they’re up to, and maybe water or tend them a bit
Go for a walk or exercise outdoors
2. While walking outside…
Turn off your device (mobile phone) or leave it behind and notice your surroundings
Open your senses and awareness and explore the world around you. Look up, down, and all around
Try on different routes to your usual spots - make it a mini adventure
Spot beauty, even in small things or unlikely places. Pause to appreciate a flower, plant, or butterfly
Marvel at everyday wonders of the world
3. While you’re driving or travelling…
Choose routes with more plants, trees, or water, ideally without increasing your carbon footprint
While you’re at a red light or stuck in traffic, see if you can find something natural or beautiful to look at. (Give those median-strip plants some love)
When you arrive somewhere, take in your surroundings, noticing the presence of the natural world
4. At mealtimes…
Before you enjoy a meal, pause to notice the food on your plate and the abundance it represents.
As you eat, appreciate the flavours, textures, and aromas
Speak words of thanksgiving for your meal, your day, and your companions
5. Near the end of the day…
Notice the sunset, the moon, the night sky. Sit outside to observe them and feel the night air
Remember some of the gifts you received from the Earth that day
Read a few poems that invite you into the natural world
Share with a loved one something you’re grateful for, or a nature experience from your day
You are invited to keep this copy of the liturgy and take it home with you
to share with another member of your family, or with a friend
Please include any reproduction of hymns/songs for local church use
on your Music Licence returns, as appropriate
Some of the Resources used in Shaping this Liturgy:
(AA) Alleluia Aotearoa. Hymns and Songs for all Churches. Raumati. New Zealand Hymnbook Trust, 1993.
Binkley, C. G. & J. M. McKeel. Jesus and his Kingdom of Equals. An International Curriculum on the Life and Teaching of Jesus. Santa Rosa. Polebridge Press, 2001.
Burgess, R. A Book of Blessings. Scotland. Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications, 2001.
(FFS) Faith Forever Singing. Songs for a New Day. Raumati. New Zealand Hymnbook Trust, 2000.
Inclusive Readings. Year C. Brisbane. Inclusive Language Project. In private circulation, 2013.
(SLT) Singing the Living Tradition. Boston. UUA, 1993.
Taussig, H. (ed). A New New Testament. A Bible for the 21st Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts. NY. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
The St Hilda Community. The New Women Included. A Book of Services and Prayers. London. SPCK, 1996.
Tucker, M. E. & J. Grim. (ed). Thomas Berry: Selected Writings on the Earth Community. Maryknoll. Orbit Books, 2014.
Vosper, G. Holy Breath. Prayers for Worship and Reflection. New & Revised edition. Brisbane. The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought Brisbane, 2004/2010.
Vosper, G. Another Breath. Prayers for Celebration and Reflection. Brisbane. The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought, Brisbane, 2009/2010.
Web sites/Other:
Norman Habel Creation Liturgies. <www.seasonofcreation.com>
"Celebrate the Cosmic Birthing" Ian Cairns. Stainer & Bell Ltd. Web site: hymns.uk.com
'Cosmic Credo'. William L Wallace. Direct from the author.
Banquet of the Cosmos. Shaped from the various published writings of:
• Margie Abbott. Cosmic Sparks. Igniting a Re-Enchantment with the Sacred. Bayswater. Coventry Press, 2021
• David Bumbaugh. Selected Communion Liturgies published in (ed) Carl Seaburg. The Communion Book. Boston. Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, 1993, plus “Toward a Humanist Vocabulary of Reverence”. Boulder International Humanist Institute, Fourth Annual Symposium, Boulder, Colorado. (22 February 2003). <http://www.uua.org/sites/live-new.uua.org/files/documents/bumbaughdavid/humanist_reverence.pdf>
• Elizabeth Johnson. “Deep Incarnation: Prepare to be Astonished”, UNIFAS Conference, Rio de Janeiro, (7-14 July 2010). <https://sgfp.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/deep-incarnation-prepare-to-be-astonished/>
• Bruce Sanguin. “Cosmic Sacrifice” and “Feast of the Cosmos” in If Darwin Prayed: Prayers for Evolutionary Mystics. Vancouver. ES Press, 2010
• Gretta Vosper, With or Without God. Why the Way we Live is More Important than What we Believe. Toronto. HarperCollins, 2008.
Plus Thich Nhat Hanh, Matthew Fox, Thomas Berry, David Galston, and others… with grateful thanks.