Cross made using debris from the River Arts District by Byron Ellen Shaw

Evensong Prayers of Lament and Hope

The Psalmist says that all those who go out weeping 

will return with songs of joy. 

God of every living thing, 

we come before you with grief and with gratitude,

with repentance and with hope. 

God, hear our prayers.

God, we remember the waters rising and the trees falling.

We wondered where you were

as homes and lives were swept away in the storm.

Our tears have been our food day and night.

How long, O Lord?

The rivers and streams that had made our hearts glad

The trees of the field that had clapped their hands

The mountains, to which we lifted our eyes

The roads that led us home:

So many were swept away.

How long, O Lord?

The lives that ended too soon.

May light perpetual shine upon them.

We confess our own complicity. 

In what we have done

And what we have left undone

We have not loved your creation well.

Forgive us, O God.

Even now our home Is suffering

From lack of clean water and air

Lack of life-giving nourishment

Lack of safe habitat.

Help us to become aware

Of the needs of humanity,

Of the needs of generations to come,

Of the needs of soil and creatures.

We acknowledge that we have a chance:

To choose peace over profit

To choose activity over complacency

To choose a greater good over today’s convenience.

We give you thanks for first responders 

and for those who have worked tirelessly 

to restore our water and power systems, 

to clear trees from our roads, 

and to rebuild what has been lost.

In their service, we see your goodness.

We give you thanks for neighbors banding together

For everyone who chose generosity, 

and willingly offered what they had

For those around the world who sent money and prayers and people

In their compassion, we see your compassion.

We give you thanks for the quick response of our government

For the state-to-state assistance

And support from FEMA.

In good governance, we see your rule reflected.

And as we remember all that we have lost

Enlighten our imaginations for what might come next.

Show us how to choose life as we rebuild.

Show us how to rebuild with justice and equity. 

May our compassion for those who suffer disaster around the world grow:

Strengthen our hearts, O God.

Help us to love again.

Arouse in us a new compassion, 

A willingness to change, 

An excitement to foster community, 

A faith in the abundance of your Kingdom. 

A zeal for establishing the Peace and Justice of God, 

A desire to set the Earth to rights 

An understanding of the connectedness of all things, 

A new appreciation of the gift of Earth. Amen

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Parts adapted from adapted from Litany for the Earth