In their naïveté,
they believed that they were somehow the cause of natural disasters—
that if only they had changed their way of life,
bad things wouldn’t have been visited upon them.
Believing this to be untrue,
we live as though the earth existed only to provide the rich with resources,
as though you had not made us stewards of your creation.
We pump billions of gallons of water from beneath the earth
in order to extract more oil and gas,
and then wonder why there are earthquakes
in places where they hadn’t existed before.
We fill the atmosphere with greenhouse gases,
increasing the planet’s temperatures,
and then wonder why storms are more severe now
than they have ever been before.
Forgive us, Lord, for laughing at our ancestors.
Perhaps we should’ve listened
when we were told that our actions have consequences—
not just for ourselves alone,
but for our neighbors, and for our children, as well.
We know we need to change,
but we have to admit that we are unable to change ourselves.
We need not only the example of your Son, but also your Spirit.
Fill us and transform us,
that we may not only claim to be your people in the world,
but that we may be your people indeed: loving our neighbor,
working for justice, making real peace, and caring for our planet.
For this is your call to us, and we ask you to help us to accept it.
We pray this in the Name of your Son, Jesus Christ,
who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns as one God,
forever and ever. Amen.
