For the Season of Creation, Chinook Blessing Litany
We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the high green valleys and meadows filled with wild flowers, the snows that never melt,the summits of intense silence, and we ask that they
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields and we ask that they
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields, the abundant gardens and orchards, and we ask that they
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the forests, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with the earth in their roots and the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine and the cedar, and we ask them to
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the seas, our brothers and sisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whales and dolphin, the beautiful Orca and salmon who share our Northwest home, and we ask them to
Teach us, and show us the Way.
We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends, who dreamed the best for future generations, and upon whose lives our lives are built, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to
Teach us, and show us the Way.
And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of the Great Spirit of love and truth which flows through all the Universe, to be with us to
Teach us, and show us the Way.
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Chinook Blessing Litany ~ The Chinook is a tribal nation from Southwest Washington, whose ancestral lands sit at the mouth of the Columbia River. They have been fighting for federal recognition since 1899. Read more…
Many thanks to Diane L. Neu, Co-Founder & Co-Director of W.A.T.E.R (Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual) in Silver Spring, MD, for publishing this Chinook Blessing Litany in her book Return Blessings.
The Season of Creation is an annual, worldwide celebration of prayer and action organized by Christian faith leaders from around the world united in the cause to protect our common home and is open to all to participate. The Season begins with the World Day of Prayer for Creation on September 1st and extends to the Feast Day of Saint Francis on October 4th. This year’s Season of Creation has the theme of “walking together”. In walking together, we follow the role of Jesus, who walked with friends on the roads around Jerusalem. As he traveled the byways of his community, Jesus invited us to encounter God through God’s presence in creation. Whether by considering “the lilies of the field” or the “grain of wheat that falls to the earth,” the spiritual journey of following Jesus is closely tied to the everyday wonders of nature that He experienced in His earthly journey. Learn More / Participate…
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