Planting

To end the week where we focussed on the theme "Care for the Earth" we had a liturgy with a planting ritual. It was simple and meaningful and drew our sttention to the possibilities that lie in a seed ... the possibilities that lie in us ... the possibilities that lie in the world.

We used this gratitude prayer to start with:
"Beloved Creator, I AM Presence, Holy of Holies,
Thank you for the animals and birds of the bush,
Thank you for this expression of your magnificence,
Thank you for your creation that illuminates my spirit,
Thank you for the free will you give me to make choices,
Thank you for correcting my alignment to you,
Thank you for the Sun and my sown foods and your majesty in my shields.
Your love is without conditions,
without obligations, without expectations.
Your love for your entire kingdom is sacred
... and I feel it!
I feel humbled, rejuvenated and close to you
... thank you!
You fine tune me to take deeper responsibility
for the power within.
You open my eyes to life,
you give me the strength to perceive differently,
To see with gratitude and to listen with gratitude.
All this beauty in the wild is inspired by your hands.
The sweet land plucks the strings of my heart with an inexplicable song.
I love you Father, Mother God!
I love this meeting of Earth and Sky!
I sense harmony as I channel your divine melody.
This moment is a beat in the miracle, this joy is your gift to me.
The African bush is resilient, it is tenacious,
it is a story of great love and truth.
It is a receptacle for inner intimacy, clarity and pleasure
Great Spirit, as your child,
I give you my smile of profound appreciation.
I am alive, I am alive, I am alive!"

And with these words we blessed the seeds and the saplings,
God, Source of all life, who did hide Your Seeds in all that lives,
be present here as we greet these tiny seeds with their gifts of life.
Seeds of Life, so small, and yet, in the mystery of death and burial, you will produce life ten-fold and more.
We sprinkle you with water, sacred sign of life,
asking that you may be embraced by our mother the earth,
fed by rain and kissed gently by the sun.
In caring for you we shall experience
the most ancient profession of the human family,
the primal vocation of being workers in the garden.
Soon you will be our pride and joy.
As we give up your life that we may live.
Seeds, pregnant with life, teach us the Easter Secret of Life,
as we ask God to bless you. Amen."