top of page

Beginning Words

 

You hear it in waterfalls and clouds rolling
in rocks skimming and sand sliding
even in the lightest leaf falling to the ground
joins in

you hear it in the call of birds
and the cry of children
in the millennial-long crack of plate tectonics
and the instant crash of wave

you hear it as hoof meets grass
of squirrel bouncing on branch
of nut cocoon splitting open
and beetle in the undergrowth

you hear it in the distant sound of whale conversation
and ancient clam closing
of wind across sand and through mountain and down valley and over tundra
and the flap of a butterflies wings

It is the song of creation
born in earthly dust and sacred breath
and we sing it in our souls
newborn with the world every morning

Let us join all creation
in praising the creator
and colouring the dawn
with slithers of gold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creation

Prayer

 

This place has always been here
before building and stone
before church and institution
before Jesus walked the earth
this place has always been here
waiting for this night
and so we gather here in it O God
for all that time has shaped this space
through each age
and every story
and come now to break this bread
and pour this wine
this dust of the earth
and hear your breath O God
breathe into these broken pieces
grace and redemption

And we celebrate here
the truth
that you, the first of creation
hold this latest moment tonight
the whole length of creation
held in love
in grace
in giving of self for another
as the first human did then
a side, a rib
to the story tonight
of Jesus giving self in love

So this is creation’s meal
and we give thanks for it
a meal of earthly dust and holy breath
of first and last
of giving and renewing
and we give back
our thanks

So be it
Amen

Everything begins with dust
Everything begins with the stoor of the world
with what is left after creation
after the chaos becomes cosmos

Who knows what it was like
after that explosion of imagination
on that first day

Swirls of dust clouds,
flashes of light,
and once the dust settles
the soot of creation
lying there
resting
waiting
longing for what it seems to know will happen
where the creator
scoops it up
this dust
this left-over of creation’s first day
and with holy breath
with breath filled with imagination
and intent
and desire
breathes
a love song
into the dust
a gentle chorus
as soft as the morning

and the motes spiral
and dance
and float
and rise into the air
in slow motion holiness
buoyed in this breath of creation

but they do not fall to where they started
as they roll
They circle round as the light catches them
that rebounds across them
and increases
and attracts
and they spin towards each other
beginning to take shape
and form,
and imagine…
a being
a being made of dust and breath
and filled with starlight

and there
in the creator’s hand
stands
newly made
with brand new lungs
filling themselves
with the freshest air
and with eyes
filled with the light of something never before known
stands
the first,
the first love of God
and every atom of stardust still
dances
in the full knowledge
of that truth

 

bottom of page