The Holiness of the Mountaintop

January 8, 2012

Today, members of St. James Episcopal Church, Knoxville, Tennessee, are praying for creation…
 

From Newfound Gap, Great Smoky Mountains

Teach us, O Lord, to listen to the Earth, our mother.

Grant us the wisdom and will to preserve all your creation, restoring to wholeness everywhere that we have carelessly left our mark.

Especially, Lord, we pray for the Appalachian mountains. Guide us in your will to defend their sanctity. For just as Abraham, Moses, Elijah and all your saints and prophets met you on the holiness of the mountaintop, we do also name our mountains “holy,” claiming our right to defend them from all who seek their harm and destruction.

And yet, we pray also for those people, that they may find meaningful employment without destroying your creation

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Amen.
 
 

DAY 18 OF FORTY DAYS OF PRAYER FOR OUR MOUNTAINS

Today, Rev. William Boys and members of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, are praying for creation…

A Poem Prayer (or Hymn*) Concerning Mountain-top Removal Coal Mining

by William E. Boys, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

God, whose voice breaks rocks asunder,
Spirit, brooding o'er the deep:
Your good world evokes our wonder,
Beauty that we long to keep.

Yet, weak stewards, wielding thunder,
Blasting, moving, we debase --
With our knowledge oft we plunder,
Wanton, wasteful -- cure our ways.

Mountain people’s spirits plummet;
Hear our prayer; their needs be seen:
Peace be giv'n to mountain summits,
Let their streams run fresh and clean.

Amen.

* Could be sung to any familiar 8.7.8.7 hymn tune fitting a trochee (but not iambic) foot,
some examples drawn from Evangelical Lutheran Worship are:
Galilee, “Jesus Calls Us, O’er the Tumult” 696
Merton, “Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding” 246
Omni Die, “For the Bread Which You Have Broken” 494
Rathbun, “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” 324
Stuttgart, “Crashing Waters at Creation” 455
The Servant Song, “Will You Let Me Be Your Servant” 659.