Praying with the Canticle of Creation

Continuing with last weeks theme, if we are the creatures who pray, what do we pray? With whom do we pray? Are not our lives prayers? Yet, we long for the rituals that remind us that all is prayer, while at the same time, inviting us to pray alongside a larger community.

In that light, here is another prayer by Rev. Edward Hayes ...

Blessed Be

Joel

Canticle of Creation

In the beginning, Lord God,
     You alone existed: eternally one
     yet pregnant in the fullness of unity.
Full to overflowing,
     You, Father of All Life, exploded outward
     in billion bits and pieces.
Your Words became flesh,
     whirling in shining stars, shimmering suns
     and in genesis glimmering galaxies.
You, my God, spoke,
     and Your Words became flesh:
     in sun and moon, earth and seas,
     mountains and gentle hills,
     rolling rivers and silent streams.
You, my God, spoke,
     and Your Words became flesh:
     in winged bird, in deer and elephant,
     in grazing cow, racing horse and fish of the deep.
Your Words, so unique and so varied,
     filled the earth also with rabbit, squirrel and ant.
And all Your Words were beautiful,
     and all were good.

From each of these holy Words
     arose a prayer of praise and adoration
     to You, their creator
     and wondrous womb.
"Praise You," rang out the redwood,
     "Blessed be You," chimed in the cedar,
     "Holy are You," prayed the prairie grasses.
From all four corners of this earth,
     rose up a chorus of perpetual adoration.

O Sacred Spirit, O Divine Breath of Life,
     unseal my ears that they may ever listen
     to Your continuous canticle of creation;
     open my heart and my whole self,
     to sing in harmony with all its many voices.
Teach me to commune with Your first Word made flesh,
     Your Creation,
     that I may be able to unravel the wondrous words
     of Your second Word made flesh,
     Jesus,
     through whom, with whom and in whom,
     I may see myself as another Word of Yours made flesh,
     to Your glory and honor.
Amen.+

_____
+ Edward Hayes. Prayers for the Domestic Church. Forest Peace Books, 1979. p. 153.