Extinction

Father of Creation

God of Compassion,

You made a beautiful world,

Full of awe and wonder,

Full of possibility and potential.

You declared it to be good.

To you be all praise, honour and glory.

Father of Creation,

God of Mercy,

You gave humanity a call to tend and keep,

Yet we have sinned in thought, word and deed.

Through consumerism and exploitation

We have acted like parasites instead of gardeners.

We have acted like ecological vandals instead of caretakers,

Have mercy on us!

We pause to remember and

grieve the loss from this world

of non-human worshippers

who have now become extinct.

Bramble Cay Melomys

What have we done?

Have mercy on us

Yangtze River Dolphin

What have we done?

Have mercy on us

Northern White Rhino

What have we done?

Have mercy on us

West African Black Rhino

What have we done?

Have mercy on us

Spix Macaw

What have we done?

Have mercy on us

Golden Toad

What have we done?

Have mercy on us

Zanibar Leopard

What have we done?

Have mercy on us.

Father, we know these are but a few of the creatures

you have made who are no longer with us.

You declared them to be good,

but we made them extinct.

Have mercy on us.

Father of Creation,

God of Mercy,

We thank you for your Son Jesus,

Our brother, king and friend.

We thank you that in Jesus we see

Justice embodied and

Entwined with extravagant mercy.

We thank you that he welcomed the weak,

Gathered the oppressed and

laid down the prophetic challenge to the

unjust structures and systems of his day.

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

Embolden us with the Spirit of Christ,

That we may rise from the ashes of our lament into the

prophetic waters of justice.

Restore us that we may be restored,

That your church may arise with healing in its wings.

Set us on fire with a love for all of your creation,

That we, your covenant people,

would shake off our parasitical past

and instead be the stewards,

caretakers and love-filled creatures

you have called us to be.

Let your church be so empowered

that we would peacefully

and publicly

join with others in rebelling against extinction.

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

To you be all praise, honour and glory,

Now and Forever. Amen