Church this week took place in the sacred sanctuary of the great outdoors. A forest that existed long before we were here, and that will live on long after we who gathered together there are gone. Rather than listen to the words of our pastor, she asked us to listen to and learn from the wisdom of the earth and the trees and the wind.

There was no mistaking the message, and the only response possible was to lift our voices together, in words of confession.

We confess that we do not often bother to contemplate the fragile-ness of your creation.

We do not act responsibly.

We do not act in the truth of our connectedness.

We have not loved creation, our neighbors,

or the generations to come as ourselves.

Forgive us, renew us, and lead us in the courage, and the wisdom,

and the will to change.

Amen