Theme “Nature”
As leaves flame
As leaves flame yellow, red, and gold,
then fall,
and flames and sweet aromas
rise from autumn bonfires,
so too we kindle our chalice-flame
in thanks for the season’s beauty
and the love that makes us one.
Colours of the rainbow
My bow I set in the clouds to be a sign of the covenant
between myself and the earth. (Genesis 9: 13)
Rainbows have become our symbols of hope,
our defiance of the pestilence that spreads fear,
ruin, and death around our world.
What can be the meanings of those seven colours?
The meanings we could give them
The sacredness of trees
(Christchurch Park, Ipswich)
He was the King of Trees
Keeper of the glades …
(Cat Stevens, ‘King of Trees’, 1974)
In the middle of an oak grove,
with trees of a few years old and trees of centuries,
feel the sacredness, the everlasting power
of the life around you,
and know the transitory nature of your own.
The ancient druids,
Fragrance of apples
The fragrance of apples conjures a dream
of blossom humming with bees,
singing with the voices of chaffinches in its midst;
of young apples forming, growing, ripening
from green to shades of russet and of red.
And then the harvest:
apples to eat as they are,
to cook in pies and crumbles;
apples to quench our
For the waters of the earth
Genesis 1: 2; Psalm 104: 25; Psalm 107: 23–24
O God, whose Spirit moved upon the face of the primeval deep;
whose works and wonders are seen by those who go down to the sea in ships;
whose ocean bounty is gathered with skill and hope and courage,
as it was by the first disciples;
we
Sorry from A-Z
With thanks to Gary Kowalski
We mourn for the Earth and its lost creatures,
and we are sorry from A to Z –
for Atlas Bears, Arabian Ostriches, and Ascension Island Rails;
for Big-eared Hopping Mice, Bush Wrens, and Broad-faced Potoroos;
for Caribbean Monk Seals, Chatham Island Penguins, Cuban Red Macaws,
and Carolina Parakeets;
for Dodos,
The pearl
I stand here before the ancestors,
Empty and hollow
And open to the waves.
I am a shell awaiting the bright
Sunlight to warm me,
The black sea to fill me.
Deep within, a grain of sand so sharp
And fine comes to rest,
While each day, on this shore,
The sun kindles the
Inner peace
Let us be quiet in our hearts as is…
The still cormorant watching from the sunlit rock,
The tranquil sea fret stealing over the water,
The gentle wave caressing the shingle,
The sea campion motionless in her gown of white.
For these are the mute harbingers of a loving God…
And the promise of