Submitted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow on
We invite you to meditate upon this photo of Earth suspended in space, seen from the barren surface of the Moon -- a warning as well as a platform. You might first expand the photo by clicking on it; pause to meditate on it; and then lift up this prayer. We have used it at several different gatherings of protest against the actions of corporations that are wounding Planet Earth, our mother and our selves. -- AW
You, O Holy One of Being –-
Interbreathing of all life --
Known to all Your cultures and communities
By many sacred Names;
You, YYYYhhhhwwwwhhhh, [pronounce by just breathing]
Who breathe transforming life into us
Just as we breathe a transformingVoice into the Shofar;
You, Who breathe life into us all
So that we breathe in what the trees breathe out
And the trees breathe in what we breathe out –
You who breathe into us the wisdom
To shape our breath into words,
To shape our words so that they aim
Toward wisdom –-
May the words we are with Your help sharing today,
Speak deeply –- with Your help -- to our nation and the world.
Help us all to know that the sharing of our breath with all of life
Is the very proof, the very truth, that we are One.
These ancient words remind us:
“I am The Interbreathing of all life,
And of Me, for Me, from Me, with Me,
Comes all the Earth.
You do not own it.
You must not poison and destroy it.
You must share its bounty with all life --
For you are but My guests and visitors.” (paraphrased from Lev. 25)
Remind us that if some few among us,
Drunk on their own wealth and power,
Pour poison into earth and air and water,
Then it is poison that we ALL eat and breathe and drink.
Our sustenance arises from the interweb of life,
And it is only through greed and coercion
That it is gobbled and poisoned by the few.
Together today we call upon our selves
And all our neighbors
To prevent the over-burning of our fossil fuels
That imposes drought and famine on our farms,
Floods our rivers and our coastlines,
Scorches our planet.
We know that what we call the Climate Crisis
Is a crisis in the balance of the gases
In our planet’s atmosphere,
A crisis in the Breathing of our planet,
A Crisis in Your Name,
YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh [pronounce by just breathing]
Yes, a crisis in the very Name of God.
So we light for You this candle,
This fire of enlightenment,
To light up the Rainbow
In the many-colored faces of Your human cultures
And in the many-colored faces of all life-forms;
To affirm that the Earth is not for burning;
To affirm that in all our faces
Is the One Spark of Your Presence. [Light candle]
Send us forth from here,
With the commitment to turn these words into action;
Into compassion, into justice, into healing --
Into shaping the Beloved Community
Throughout the Earth.
We call out
In the Name of the One Who is many;
In the name of the many who are One.
And may the people say, Amen! Ah’meyn! Ah’min!