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 “I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things, but when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.”   Jeremiah 2:6    

These are hard words for us to hear.  Words I’d just soon not read, but the prophets always echoed truth as they took a hard look at reality and named the hard truth they saw as a call to the wise to turn to scripture and Christ to re-examine how we live out the gospel.

World Environment Day falls this year on Pentecost Sunday when we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus.  God’s Holy Spirit is alive and active in our world.  And more than ever we need the holy “winds of change” to blow through our lives and choices.

 Pentecost falls 50 days after Easter.  This year the UN Stockholm+50 gathering fall just before Pentecost.  The 2022 theme is:  A healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity.  Faith communities, indigenous cultures and wisdoms from around the world will be attending and presenting a collective paper:  Faith in Earth – A deep conversation on religious perspectives on the way forward for a healthy planet.  Please pray for the Holy Spirit to descent upon this gathering and all who attend.  

Please pray for the Holy Spirit to descent on us in our individual choices for a healthy planet.  

In Prayer Bench, Janice MacLean writes: “If we shut our eyes and turn our backs can we pretend that climate change is a problem for someone else to fix? If we talk louder and faster and use a lot of words and make promises to change can we pat ourselves on the back for doing our bit? If we take personal measures to combat our own contributions to climate change but compare this to the efforts of corporations and countries, can we give up because we won’t make enough of a difference personally?

The challenges of climate change are with us now. The issues are unavoidable, and the impact is happening at speed.  It’s confronting and hard. 

Our personal creation responsibilities can feel overwhelming.  For sure, there are giants in our world who can make a massively big difference and will need to if we are going to turn our world around. However, we cannot underestimate the power of every tiny decision made by millions of individual people who care about God’s world.  

Jesus talked often of little things, a small amount of yeast, a pinch of salt, a coin, a child’s lunch, a mustard seed. Consider what tiny steps you have been taking and what your next tiny step might be in caring for creation and accepting your creation responsibilities.”  

And Jane Goodall writes:  “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”   

May the flames of Pentecost ignite our hearts and minds, so they blaze into commitment.  May our prayers turn into prayerful action.    

World Environment Day Prayer

Originator of all creation, you made a world full of beauty, an infinite expression of your glory and love for all. Let us not forget the gift we have been given, that we may continue to act as guardians and stewards of all your creation. Fill us with awe and wonder today and each day as we behold your infinite creativity. Give us the courage and strength to view and engage our environment as the sacred space it is and to work to protect it from corruption and exploitation. May we view all you have created with reverence and admiration, that we may be reminded of your constant presence in our midst. As we walk each day, let us remember all those who have come before and walked these same lands.

We must not forget that what we have been given is not only for us, but for the generations to come. Let us cultivate a world teeming with life, where a safe enriching environment is abundant enough for all, that God’s love and glory may shine through for generations to come. In your name we pray, Amen.