St. Andrew's Episcopal Church chose its monthly Evensong service as its Preach-in service. It was a beautiful service with a full choir, a wonderful guest sermon by Rev. Bill Thwing (and a delicious reception afterward!) Thank you to all the people who made it happen, both for what you created, and for inviting members of the Creation Care Coalition of Centre County to join you.
The Collect is a collective, responsive prayer connected to the message of the church day. Should some of you be looking for inspiration for your own Preach In material, or your own prayers, here is the one Barbara Ballenger wrote for this evening:
We pray for the healing of your creation, oh God. For the departed land, the dying forests, the barren stretches of ocean, the melting ice caps and snow peaks, the rising sea levels, the thirsty and hungry creatures. We pray:
Lord have mercy.
We pray for the healing of your creation, oh God. For the beautiful, complex and diverse sepcies that you have fashioned and that we have endangered. For those lost to us forever, we pray:
Lord have mercy.
We pray for the healing of your creation, oh God. For all people overcome by drought, and flooding, and by shifts in season that destroy crops and dry up water sources. For the countries that are most at reisk of environmental disaster caused by climate change: for Haiti and Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Madagascar, Cambodia and Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi and the Philippines. May they find ways to adapt, and resources to survive the damage already done. We pray:
Lord have mercy.
We pray for the healing of your creation, oh God, in thanks for the return of the rain to Somalia where tens of thousands of people fled drought this year, in search of food and water. For those who return to work the land and for those who did not survive the journey. We pray:
Lord have mercy.
We pray for the healing of your creation, oh God, where environmental disasters displace more people than war. Where the poorest, who use the least of the world's fossil fuels, are hit first and worst by climate change. We pray:
Lord have mercy.
We pray for the healing of your creation, oh God. You who called the rich young man to give up everything to follow you, call us now to give up that which harms and threatens the world you have made. For what we have done, and for what we have failed to do, we pray:
Lord have mercy.
Creator God, hear our prayer. We do not wish to be like the rich young man, who finds the price of everlasting life too high. We need your grace. And eyes to see the consequences of our ways. And ears to hear the cry of those who suffer. And hearts that beak with love. Grant that we might turn the rising tide and help your world to heal.
Amen.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Of Sheds and Songs
A reflection from Rabbi Daniel Swartz, Rabbi of Temple Hesed in Scranton, PA, and vice president of the PA IPL Board. He also carries the important title of dad to Alana, who wrote for this blog last year
Of Sheds and Songs
This past week, I've had some experiences that have highlighted for me both our connection to the world around us and what we should be doing about that connection. I learned my first series of lessons as my wife Marjorie and I worked on getting a shed set up in our back yard. We needed to first create a completely level gravel pad for the shed to sit on. The problem was that our yard, like most of the natural world, was not level. So we built a retaining wall -- and that's where the first lesson came to my attention. Just a few years ago, you had to look far and wide to find any wood treated for outdoor that did not incredibly toxic chemicals put on it, including significant levels of arsenic. At that time, the Environmental Protection Agency tried to issue a "health standard" on arsenic that protected the chemical companies involved with treating wood, but did not protect children. Faith groups helped convey two key messages to our government -- first, that children both need and deserve special health protections, and second, that "environment" is not something that consists of faraway parks and pandas, but is where we live, eat, play, work, and pray. EPA was forced to issue a stronger standard -- and now, I can go into a store and don't even have to ask about arsenic -- because its use has been banned.
The second lesson was a bit more physical. Once we finished the retaining wall, we were supposed to get 11 tons of gravel (from a nearby quarry, so the carbon footprint was lower!) put into it. Because of the warm winter (climate change all around us!), however, the ground was too soft for the truck to get all the way to where it was supposed to be. So in the end it delivered about 3 tons of gravel into the walls, and about 8 tons outside of them. Marjorie and I suddenly had to shovel 8 tons of gravel! At first, it looked completely impossible. And even after an hour of shoveling, it didn't look like we had made even an dent in the wrongly-placed pile of gravel. But we didn't give up -- and by the end of the afternoon, all the gravel was inside and beautifully leveled! The next time that I start feeling despair about the difficultly of changing our society from its current dependence on fossil fuels into one that functions sustainably, I'll remember the gravel pile and how the impossible can become very doable with a little persistence.
My next lesson wasn't quite so fun. A couple of days after we were done shoveling, my wrist started to swell up painfully. About a day after that, it actually began to squeak when I moved it -- loudly enough that someone sitting next to me could hear it clearly! A quick call to my doctor (and a quick Google of "squeaky wrist") made it clear that I had tendonitis. The lesson -- all of us, and the ecosystems we live in as well, have limits. When we exceed those limits, things might still appear to be fine -- but over time, problems become clearer and clearer. By the time these problems become clear, however, it is really too late. It's much better to make the effort to prevent them in the first place!
The final lesson of the week took place today. We were having a PAIPL executive committee call. I had to leave just a bit before the end to go teach a music class at the local Jewish Senior Home. Without having planned it in advance, I realized that the psalm we were going to explore musically, Psalm 92, had some very relevant themes in. It read, in part, "How great are Your works, O Eternal, how very profound are Your designs. The brutish one cannot know, the fool cannot understand this." Wow, what a vivid description of the current situation of the world -- some appreciating the wonder of the world around us, some being foolishly unaware. The psalm then continues, "The righteous bloom like a date-palm, thrive like a cedar of Lebanon." In the Hebrew Bible, righteousness and the flourishing of the natural world are inextricably intertwined. Without righteousness, the world withers -- and no one can be truly righteous if they don't consider the treatment of the world around us as part of their moral calling. But when righteousness is tied to care for the earth, then we, like the earth, bloom and prosper.
So, even though I am typing this with a wrist brace on, all in all, I'd have to say its been a very good week. Kind of reminds me about another week called "very good," come to think of it.
Daniel Swartz
Of Sheds and Songs
This past week, I've had some experiences that have highlighted for me both our connection to the world around us and what we should be doing about that connection. I learned my first series of lessons as my wife Marjorie and I worked on getting a shed set up in our back yard. We needed to first create a completely level gravel pad for the shed to sit on. The problem was that our yard, like most of the natural world, was not level. So we built a retaining wall -- and that's where the first lesson came to my attention. Just a few years ago, you had to look far and wide to find any wood treated for outdoor that did not incredibly toxic chemicals put on it, including significant levels of arsenic. At that time, the Environmental Protection Agency tried to issue a "health standard" on arsenic that protected the chemical companies involved with treating wood, but did not protect children. Faith groups helped convey two key messages to our government -- first, that children both need and deserve special health protections, and second, that "environment" is not something that consists of faraway parks and pandas, but is where we live, eat, play, work, and pray. EPA was forced to issue a stronger standard -- and now, I can go into a store and don't even have to ask about arsenic -- because its use has been banned.
The second lesson was a bit more physical. Once we finished the retaining wall, we were supposed to get 11 tons of gravel (from a nearby quarry, so the carbon footprint was lower!) put into it. Because of the warm winter (climate change all around us!), however, the ground was too soft for the truck to get all the way to where it was supposed to be. So in the end it delivered about 3 tons of gravel into the walls, and about 8 tons outside of them. Marjorie and I suddenly had to shovel 8 tons of gravel! At first, it looked completely impossible. And even after an hour of shoveling, it didn't look like we had made even an dent in the wrongly-placed pile of gravel. But we didn't give up -- and by the end of the afternoon, all the gravel was inside and beautifully leveled! The next time that I start feeling despair about the difficultly of changing our society from its current dependence on fossil fuels into one that functions sustainably, I'll remember the gravel pile and how the impossible can become very doable with a little persistence.
My next lesson wasn't quite so fun. A couple of days after we were done shoveling, my wrist started to swell up painfully. About a day after that, it actually began to squeak when I moved it -- loudly enough that someone sitting next to me could hear it clearly! A quick call to my doctor (and a quick Google of "squeaky wrist") made it clear that I had tendonitis. The lesson -- all of us, and the ecosystems we live in as well, have limits. When we exceed those limits, things might still appear to be fine -- but over time, problems become clearer and clearer. By the time these problems become clear, however, it is really too late. It's much better to make the effort to prevent them in the first place!
The final lesson of the week took place today. We were having a PAIPL executive committee call. I had to leave just a bit before the end to go teach a music class at the local Jewish Senior Home. Without having planned it in advance, I realized that the psalm we were going to explore musically, Psalm 92, had some very relevant themes in. It read, in part, "How great are Your works, O Eternal, how very profound are Your designs. The brutish one cannot know, the fool cannot understand this." Wow, what a vivid description of the current situation of the world -- some appreciating the wonder of the world around us, some being foolishly unaware. The psalm then continues, "The righteous bloom like a date-palm, thrive like a cedar of Lebanon." In the Hebrew Bible, righteousness and the flourishing of the natural world are inextricably intertwined. Without righteousness, the world withers -- and no one can be truly righteous if they don't consider the treatment of the world around us as part of their moral calling. But when righteousness is tied to care for the earth, then we, like the earth, bloom and prosper.
So, even though I am typing this with a wrist brace on, all in all, I'd have to say its been a very good week. Kind of reminds me about another week called "very good," come to think of it.
Daniel Swartz
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thanks at Thanksgiving, plus a little inspirational downtime
It seems appropriate this week of Thanksgiving to share our ways of giving thanks. My family joins hands and sings a simple grace most nights as we gather around the table.
Evening is here
the board is spread
thanks be to God
who gives us bread
The one below is longer, and we use it less often, but it's one of my favorites. It captures so much in so few words, and I am thankful for the miracle of renewing life that provides my food, and for all the hands that touch it from seed to mouth. It can be sung in a 4-part round.
For sun and rain
for grass and grain
for all who toil
on sea and soil
that we may eat
this daily food
we give our loving thanks to God.
Does anyone else have favorites? Please share in the comments!
Inspirational downtime
When you're done with your dinner, your post-prandial walk, and as many games of Clue, charades and Bananagrams as you can handle for one evening, consider sharing some truly stunning scenery with your family. It might even count for extra credit in earth science for your middle school relatives.
Several PA IPL members in State College recently attended a screening of the 93-minute video, HOME at Penn State. The website description introduces the film in the paragraph below. Reviews just call it "eye candy" It's available in several languages, so choose the one you know best, or one you're learning.
Arthus-Bertrand's website GoodPlanet has more stunning film related to the International Year of Forests. A series of free photo-art posters are available for schools and others wanting to host educational events about forests. They're gorgeous. Would they spark inspiration, discussion, or prayer in the halls of your congregation's building?
Evening is here
the board is spread
thanks be to God
who gives us bread
The one below is longer, and we use it less often, but it's one of my favorites. It captures so much in so few words, and I am thankful for the miracle of renewing life that provides my food, and for all the hands that touch it from seed to mouth. It can be sung in a 4-part round.
For sun and rain
for grass and grain
for all who toil
on sea and soil
that we may eat
this daily food
we give our loving thanks to God.
Does anyone else have favorites? Please share in the comments!
Inspirational downtime
When you're done with your dinner, your post-prandial walk, and as many games of Clue, charades and Bananagrams as you can handle for one evening, consider sharing some truly stunning scenery with your family. It might even count for extra credit in earth science for your middle school relatives.
Several PA IPL members in State College recently attended a screening of the 93-minute video, HOME at Penn State. The website description introduces the film in the paragraph below. Reviews just call it "eye candy" It's available in several languages, so choose the one you know best, or one you're learning.
"Internationally renowned photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand makes his feature directorial debut with this environmentally conscious documentary produced by Luc Besson, and narrated by Glenn Close. Shot in 54 countries and 120 locations over 217 days, Home presents the many wonders of planet Earth from an entirely aerial perspective. As such, we are afforded the unique opportunity to witness our changing environment from an entirely new vantage point. In our 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has hopelessly upset Mother Nature's delicate balance. Some experts claim that we have less than ten years to change our patterns of consumption and reverse the trend before the damage is irreversible. Produced to inspire action and encourage thoughtful debate, Home poses the prospect that unless we act quickly, we risk losing the only home we may ever have."
Sunday, November 6, 2011
A letter from Canadian faith leaders
A letter released on October 25, 2011 titled "Canadian Interfaith Call for Leadership and Action on Climate Change" is worth reading. Excerpts appear in Canada's Embassy magazine here. A PDF of the entire text can be downloaded from the national IPL website here. (Click on "read this important statement" just below the paragraph announcing the letter.)
The first paragraph states
"We, representatives of Canadian faith communities, are united in our conviction that the growing crisis of climate change needs to be met by solutions that draw upon the moral and spiritual resources of the world's religious traditions. We recognize that at its root the unprecedented human contribution to climate change is symptomatic of a spiritual deficit: excessive self-interest, destructive competition, and greed have given rise to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. Humanity's relationship with the environment has become distorted by actions that compromise the welfare of future generations of life."
Paragraph 4 is my favorite as an inspiration for both speech and action by individuals, voices of faith, and communities of faith in our wider communities.
"All religious traditions uphold the nobility of the human spirit, calling us to seek moderation and service to the common good. Such a vision empowers individuals to take responsibility for relationships with each other and our planet. Indeed, our everyday choices about food, transportation, clothing and entertainment are all practical expressions of what we value. At the same time, disconnections between our professed beliefs and our daily actions indicate our need for personal and collective awareness and transformation. We need to seek coherence between our beliefs and our actions, so that our lives and consumption habits reflect our relationship with the rest of humanity and the Earth itself. "
Which parts speak to you? Please use the comments to lead us to the writings within your own denomination or tradition that have inspired you to act on energy use and climate change!
The first paragraph states
"We, representatives of Canadian faith communities, are united in our conviction that the growing crisis of climate change needs to be met by solutions that draw upon the moral and spiritual resources of the world's religious traditions. We recognize that at its root the unprecedented human contribution to climate change is symptomatic of a spiritual deficit: excessive self-interest, destructive competition, and greed have given rise to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. Humanity's relationship with the environment has become distorted by actions that compromise the welfare of future generations of life."
Paragraph 4 is my favorite as an inspiration for both speech and action by individuals, voices of faith, and communities of faith in our wider communities.
"All religious traditions uphold the nobility of the human spirit, calling us to seek moderation and service to the common good. Such a vision empowers individuals to take responsibility for relationships with each other and our planet. Indeed, our everyday choices about food, transportation, clothing and entertainment are all practical expressions of what we value. At the same time, disconnections between our professed beliefs and our daily actions indicate our need for personal and collective awareness and transformation. We need to seek coherence between our beliefs and our actions, so that our lives and consumption habits reflect our relationship with the rest of humanity and the Earth itself. "
Which parts speak to you? Please use the comments to lead us to the writings within your own denomination or tradition that have inspired you to act on energy use and climate change!
Monday, October 10, 2011
COOL chants!
Since our "kickoff" was in State College, on a Temple-PSU game weekend, we had a small team of cheerleaders on the downtown streets in the couple of hours before kickoff. The cheers (and pom-poms) were provided by Barbara Ballenger, and she has given me permission to share them here. You may use them, too, but please credit Barb when you do. High tosses, human pyramids, and back handsprings are optional, but attention-getting! (If you're not sure it enhances the message, check out this 2 minute video of rapping climate scientists -- use the closed captions to catch the lyrics.)
Cricket's elementary and middle-school daughters have been caught chanting several of these to themselves around the house in the last year. Neither is interested in cheerleading normally...
Cricket's elementary and middle-school daughters have been caught chanting several of these to themselves around the house in the last year. Neither is interested in cheerleading normally...
Ready! OK!
I say … you say
· I say Pennsyl, you say vania…
Pennsyl … vania; Pennsyl … vania
· I say inter you say faith
· I say power and you say light….
· Put it together and say it right – Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light
Climate Change Cadence
I don’t know but I’ve been told (echo)
The North Pole isn’t very cold
The Polar bears are really steamed
Had to buy an ice machine
Sound off…1 2
Sound off … 3 4
Take it on down 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3-4
It’s hot in hell or so they say…
I’ll tell you how it got that way
Lucifer that blind old fool
Runs the place on fossil fuel
Sound off …
I’ll tell you how it got that way
Lucifer that blind old fool
Runs the place on fossil fuel
Sound off …
So do something and do it well …
Join the PA IPL
Make your carbon footprint small
So there’s a little left for all
Sound off
Lean to the left…
Lean to the left lean to the right
Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light
People of faith come join the fight
Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light
Win one for the planet
Hey Pennsylvania!
The earth can’t take it.
Win one for the planet
Before we bake it. (repeat)
The earth can’t take it.
Win one for the planet
Before we bake it. (repeat)
It’s Hot
It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot out here
There’s green house gases in the atmosphere!
It’s not, it’s not, it’s not a lie
The temperature is on the rise.
It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot out here
Green house gases in the atmosphere
It’s not, its not, it’s not so nice
Antarctica is losing ice.
It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot out here
There’s green house gases in the atmosphere
It’s not, it’s not, it’s not a blast
Climate change will cook your … grass
I’m just saying …
I’m just saying, I’m not lying
Mother Earth is really frying
We can’t let it end this way
Got to reverse climate change
Mother Earth is really frying
We can’t let it end this way
Got to reverse climate change
Push it back, push it back
Way back, way back 2x
I’m just saying, I’m not lying
Congress isn’t even trying
Who’ll run our economy
When we’re all floating in the sea?
Way back, way back 2x
I’m just saying, I’m not lying
Congress isn’t even trying
Who’ll run our economy
When we’re all floating in the sea?
Push it back, push it back
Way back, way back …
Ain’t no Power
Ain’t no power like the power of the people
Cause the power of the people don’t stop! uh!
Ain’t no power like the power of the sun
Cause the power of the sun don’t stop! uh!
Ain’t no power like the power of the wind
Cause the power of the wind don’t stop! uh!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Children's Message: Footprints
Yesterday, for our Annual Meeting and conference, PA IPL member University Mennonite Church hosted the worship service. Following the opening hymns, Bethany Spicher Schonberg offered a fantastic children's message that could be used in many contexts and any faith community. On request, she wrote it up for us. I hope many of you will use it!
Footprints on the Earth: Helping Children Understand Environmental Impact
Materials needed: a globe, a giant boot, a tiny toy shoe (the one from Monopoly works great)
Show children the globe. What do you see here? A globe, yes. This is a way for us to imagine the world - the earth - because the real one is too big for us to see! We're sitting on the earth right now, right about here. Show location on the globe. Who made this earth that we're sitting on? Who made the light, the sky and oceans, trees and animals and all the continents that we see on the globe here? God did. And God gave this earth to us to care for and to walk on.
Now, there are two ways that we can walk on this earth. We can walk in big shoes or little shoes. Show two shoes. If I were to step in the mud with this shoe (show giant boot), what sort of footprint would I make? And what if I stepped in the mud with this shoe (show tiny shoe)? If I were trying to walk around this globe here, what shoes would work best? What if I wanted to dance on this globe?
It's the same with the real earth. Whenever we use something on the earth - like water - we're making a footprint. And whenever we throw something away - like a piece of paper - we're making a footprint. We can make big footprints or little footprints. So, here's a test. If I turned on the water and let it run for an hour, is that a big or little footprint? What if I turned on the water just long enough to get a drink? And if I colored on ten pieces of paper and then threw them all away, is that a big or little footprint? What if I colored on one piece, turned it over and used the other side and then recycled the paper?
This week, whenever you use something from the earth or throw something away, think about your footprint on the earth. Is it a big stomping footprint or a little dancing footprint? God gave us the earth to walk on and God can teach us to walk in smaller shoes.
Close with a prayer.
Micah and Bethany Spicher Schonberg
Plowshare Produce
www.plowshareproduce.com
Footprints on the Earth: Helping Children Understand Environmental Impact
Materials needed: a globe, a giant boot, a tiny toy shoe (the one from Monopoly works great)
Show children the globe. What do you see here? A globe, yes. This is a way for us to imagine the world - the earth - because the real one is too big for us to see! We're sitting on the earth right now, right about here. Show location on the globe. Who made this earth that we're sitting on? Who made the light, the sky and oceans, trees and animals and all the continents that we see on the globe here? God did. And God gave this earth to us to care for and to walk on.
Now, there are two ways that we can walk on this earth. We can walk in big shoes or little shoes. Show two shoes. If I were to step in the mud with this shoe (show giant boot), what sort of footprint would I make? And what if I stepped in the mud with this shoe (show tiny shoe)? If I were trying to walk around this globe here, what shoes would work best? What if I wanted to dance on this globe?
It's the same with the real earth. Whenever we use something on the earth - like water - we're making a footprint. And whenever we throw something away - like a piece of paper - we're making a footprint. We can make big footprints or little footprints. So, here's a test. If I turned on the water and let it run for an hour, is that a big or little footprint? What if I turned on the water just long enough to get a drink? And if I colored on ten pieces of paper and then threw them all away, is that a big or little footprint? What if I colored on one piece, turned it over and used the other side and then recycled the paper?
This week, whenever you use something from the earth or throw something away, think about your footprint on the earth. Is it a big stomping footprint or a little dancing footprint? God gave us the earth to walk on and God can teach us to walk in smaller shoes.
Close with a prayer.
Micah and Bethany Spicher Schonberg
Plowshare Produce
www.plowshareproduce.com
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
One Year
Here at PA IPL we are preparing for our 1-year anniversary. To celebrate, Barb Ballenger has given us permission to share her delightful song lyrics from our big Kickoff weekend in 2010. Please feel free to use them, but, of course, credit where credit is due. Look for her cheers next week...
The Climate is a-Changing
The Climate is a-Changing
(To the tune of The Times They are a-Changing, By Bob Dylan)
Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that the sea levels you have grown.
And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone
If the planet to you is worth saving.
You better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone,
Cause the climate is a-changing.
Come scientists, pragmatists, beautiful minds
And add up the numbers a couple more times
While Congress ignores all the obvious signs
That we can’t win the game we’ve been playing.
Cause the temperature’s rising along with tides
And the climate is a changing
Come all you deniers and stand on the on the shore
Of an island that soon won’t be there anymore
And try to believe it’s a stunt by Al Gore
To make all the wealthy start paying.
Tell me how do things look from the new ocean floor?
Cause the climate is a changing
Come people of prayer and people of faith
Tell me how will you look own God in the face
When asked why we made such a mess of the place?
Did you stand like a prophet a raging,
Or did you step on the gas just to keep up the pace?
While the climate was a -changing?
Come mothers and fathers from throughout the land
Tell me what did you help your kids to understand
About the true cost of the purchase at hand?
Did you teach them the earth is worth saving?
Do they realize things won’t work out like they planned
If the climate keeps a-changing?
Now people of conscience and people of creed
Who cannot ignore how the earth cries with need
And who see what’s connected to all of this greed
It’s time that we began engaging
With people who long to reverse the degree
Of the climate that is changing.
The Cycle Round -- this one is great for a bike-to-worship celebration!
(sung to the tune of "Don't throw your trash in my backyard")
I. Don’t park your car in my driveway, my driveway, my driveway, don’t park your car in my driveway, my driveway’s full.
II. With one bicycle, two bicycles, three bicycles, four bicycles, fives bicycles, six bicycles and one built for two.
III. Idling in traffic jams, traffic jams, traffic jams
Idling in traffic jams won’t get you very far. The Little Light of Mine
· This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine …
· Don’t need no ‘lectricity, I’m gonna let it shine…
· To shed some light on climate change, I’m gonna
· To build a world we can sustain, I’m gonna …
· Put it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine
· Ain’t no one gonna “poof” it out….
Sowing on the Mountain
(Guy Carawan, George Tucker)
Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley
Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley
Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley
You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.
Look at what their greed has done to our mountains…
You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.
Look at what their oil has done to our ocean.
You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.
Look at what our factories have done to our atmosphere…
You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.
Things are gonna change cause
There’s power in the people…
You’re gonna reap, just what you sow.
The Garden Song
(Dave Mallet, Pete Seeger)
Inch by inch, row by row / gonna make my garden grow. /All it takes is rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground. Inch by inch, row, by row/ someone bless the seeds I sow. Someone warm them from below till the rain comes tumbling down.
Pulling weeds and picking stones/ We are made of dreams and bones. Need a place to call my own for the time is near at thand. Grain for grain, sun and rain, find a way trough nature’s chain
From my body and my brain to the music of the land.
Plant your rows straight and long. Temper them with prayers and song. Mother earth will make you strong if you give her loving care. And old crow watching hungrily from his perch in yonder tree. In my garden I’m as free as that feathered thief up there.
For the Beauty of the Earth
(FS Pierpoint and Conrad Kocher)
For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the sky
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies
God of all to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night.
Hill and vale and tree and flower
Sun and moon and stars of night
God of all to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love
Brother, sister, parent, child
Friends on earth and friends above
For all gentle thoughts and mild
God of all to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For each perfect gift of thine
To our race so freely given
For thy constant love divine
Peace on earth and joy in heaven
God of all to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
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