Infinite Spirit of Life and Love, our hearts are heavy and our souls are troubled by the oil spill in the Gulf. All of us have felt a host of emotions these past weeks as we have watched the tragedy unfold over day after day. We have felt sorrow for those killed and injured and their families. We have felt heartache at the peril of the waters and wetlands, the beaches and marshes, and all the creatures of the Gulf. We have felt concern and compassion for all those whose livelihoods are dependent on the Gulf, many of whom are just now recovering from other disasters. We have felt anger that this happened and anger and frustration at the seeming inability to contain the spill and ameliorate the damage caused. We have felt helpless to do anything. And we have felt concern for those we know who work for BP, who are under such stress and scrutiny, who carry the weight of this tragedy more than we can know, and who feel all that we feel and more.

We pray for comfort and healing for those who are mourning losses and for those who are hurting. We pray for strength and resiliency, for ability and wisdom, for those working tirelessly to contain the spill and to protect the beaches, wetlands and marshes, to rescue the birds and other wildlife. We hold in our hearts all of this beautiful creation now despoiled.

And we pray also to acknowledge our complicity in this disaster. Though the threads be long and even obscure, we are all linked – all of us – in some way or another to this tragedy. We pray for all of us to find the wisdom and courage to live in ways that truly cherish our beautiful planet.

And we pray that, no matter our feelings of the moment, we will remember these feelings and use them to good ends – toward doing what we can to walk in right relationship with the earth, in right relationship with our fellow creatures, in right relationship with one another. As we are all linked with the earth, so all humanity is linked with one another.

Shalom. Blessed Be. Amen.

The Revs Becky and Mark Edmiston-Lange