Tag Archive: Indigenous

Prayer of the People, 4 June 2021

June 7, 2021 0 Comments

Heavenly Father,

We exalt you. You have brought us out of the depths despair. We called to you for help and you helped us. You have made us alive with you through the death, burial, and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ. We praise you Lord! Thank you for delivering us from deceit and darkness  into your Kingdom.

We sing praises to you even though we may have wept in the night. The morning brings promise of your New Day so we declare again, “Great is your faithfulness.” May the joy of your salvation be our strength.

How is it Lord that the wicked have profited from injustice? How is it Lord that even some who claimed your name acted so wickedly against the children precious in your sight? Our stomachs turn and our souls are uneasy as the terrible evidence that so many Indigenous children died at the Kamloops Residential School. Oh Lord may your Spirit comfort. Please bring healing to us all.

Our Father, may the wind of your Spirit pierce our hard hearts that we might shine with your righteousness. We repent of our envy and selfish ambition. Grant us the wisdom of Jesus that we may engage in the long and creative work of making peace. Change our hearts Lord and instruct our tongues that we may speak your truth to power and your love to the sin sick.

We lift up to you cities torn by violence and the disintegration of neighbourly love. We pray for Portland, Oregon and ask that you bring your true peace to anxious hearts. We lift up Athens, Greece, that you might fortify your church with courage that may be generous and gracious to those seeking refuge. We lift up Ceuta, where so many young people have fled with hopes of a new life; Oh Lord move the hearts of officials to pursue a compassionate and human response to each person. May your Son, the Prince of Peace and Saviour of the World be made known in each of these cities.

We need you in every arena of life, so we pray as Jesus taught us: (Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, forever.   
Amen.

This prayer was part of the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast on 4 June 2021.

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 19 June 2020

June 22, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father,

In your mercy you looked on those you created. Though we rejected you and your Word, you moved towards us in love. Your compassion exceeds our imagination. Thank you for not leaving it to our imagination. We see the Cross. You moved first and have loved us. You sent your Son in the image of sinful humanity, took up a cross, and died for us. 

Thank you for this grace. You have ushered us into your communion. We have believed your Word and your Resurrection. We have crossed over from death into life and now we enjoy the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

The Resurrection of your Son has set in us a lasting hope.

Yet, why do the nations rage against you? Why does the evil one still kill, steal and destroy? 

We would drop these weapons and words of war, turn them into plows and set our hands to the fallow ground of our hearts and our communities. Surely there is good to be shared!

Oh Father, may your Spirit blow across our land as a refreshing breeze for the nations. Forgive us for we have resisted your call to be still and know that you are God. We lift up indigenous brothers and sisters who are weary from grief as yet another life has been taken in a violent encounter with police. Oh Lord there must be another way!

Lord we lift up to you the people of Yemin, and plead with you for peace. Oh Lord may your shalom emerge in the most chaotic corners of this nation. May your healing for the nations be made known through the revelation of Jesus Christ. May your provisions be released to provide for a people weekend by famine. Oh Lord come and hear their cry.

Lord we thank you for the Graduates from the University of British Columbia and from Langara College here in Vancouver this week. Bless them. Provide for them. Turn your face toward them and be their delight. Establish the work of their hands so that your goodness will be shared with many neighbours.

Oh Lord, we need you and so we pray as Jesus taught us. (Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, forever.   
Amen.

Prayer

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My Awkward Attempt at Splaining Indigenous Silviculture

November 21, 2019 0 Comments

Recently I awkwardly interrupted a table conversation that I felt was rapidly deteriorating. Yeah, it was really awkward. After my “lesson” no one said anything, stared at me for a moment and then everyone changed the subject to other things all at once.

I’m sure no-one expected a pastor to talk about indigenous history and care of the land. Nor did they expect a call out on racism. It was really awkward. I’m probably not all that good at “splaining” silviculture as it was historically or is currently practiced by indigenous people or anyone else for that matter!

I shared a little of what I had been learning in regards to regenerative agriculture and specifically of indigenous silviculture practice on the West Coast. Knowledge has been suppressed by our disrespect and violence. There is long history of planting and pruning along a lengthy system of paths, maintaining forests along fields, and caring for the forest around homes. And then there’s localized firelighting, another aspect of silviculture and the relationship we can have in stewarding God’s Creation and living mutually with the land. The romantic vision held by some of a wild outdoors pristine and untouched by persons is really mythical. We all live with the land; we just have different postures toward it, some helpful and some destructive.

Early this morning I was delighted to read this fascinating article about the people living in California who are seeking to reintroduce local indigenous silviculture practices. Some believe it’s essential to turning local environments around in California. “When you have colonization removing native people, disrupting that social structure around fire use, outlawing fire, and then actively using every construct in a militaristic way to suppress and exclude fires, then we have the conditions that we have now,” said the research ecologist Frank Lake.

Read more.

Change, Creation, Relationships

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