Spirit of Life,
Father of all life,
Heart of the universe,
Eternal Creator!
We stand in awe of the glory
Reflected in earth’s beauty, diversity and integrity.
We long for the fullness
Of your reign on earth.
We mourn the destruction of air, water, forests,
The loss of biodiversity.
Forgive us our collective wrong-doing,
This generation’s plunder of our children’s inheritance.
We pray especially for humanity’s repentance
Of the destruction of earth’s climate.
At the coming UN climate talks
We pray that you heal the self-defeating desire of nations
To grasp advantage for themselves
When we share the one sky, one future.
Our fates are intertwined.
May nations and companies repent, fully repent,
Of their profiting from coal, oil and gas extraction.
We pray for a spirit of compassion
For those countries battered by climate impacts,
With limited means to recover or adapt.
May wealthy nations like Australia accept their responsibility
And honour their pledges of Climate Finance.
May all those attending the talks have their eyes opened
To the options for a just transition to clean,
Sustainable, affordable, distributed forms of energy.
We pray for the development of a Loss and Damage facility
Which offers timely relief after disasters.
We thank you for the grace and love shown through
All those acting to protect the climate,
The activists, the innovators, the policy-makers and investors.
May their numbers continue to grow
And may they be ultimately successful in averting catastrophe.
May your will be done.
Amen.
Written by Thea Ormerod for Common Grace's 2023 Season of Creation celebrations.
Thea Ormerod is the current President of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), a multi-faith advocacy organisation that has the support of a number of peak bodies of diverse faiths. In her role at ARRCC, Thea works to create unified faith-based support across Australia to call for urgent and credible climate action. Thea has been actively involved in the justice and ecology sectors for more than 30 years, and has extensive experience in social justice as a social worker and a long-term anti-poverty campaigner.