Page 53 - Eggs and Ashes pages

52 Eggs and Ashes

Prayer of Franciscan conservation

Living God,
where there is waste, let us bring recycling;
where there is recycling, let us bring reuse;
where there is reuse, let us bring sustainability;
where there is sustainability, let us bring justice;
where there is justice, let us bring love.

John Polhill

Prayer at a supermarket checkout

God, my friend and creator, the person in front of me has bought a bag of bags of
crisps and put them into a plastic carrier bag; does it matter?

Was this part of the Great Plan? Did the generous outpouring of your love in the
moment that the universe began include the bag of bags of bags?

Did your wrath get used up in the Old Testament?

When the contents of that perfect, shiny bag have been eaten up, and that bag is
deep in landfill, is it any better or worse than the fossil fuel from which it came?

And, if it is 50 million years since the death of the plant that became the fossil fuel,
will another 50 million years make good of the crisp bags?

You’re not going to tell me are you?

Because the plant, the oil, the bag, the 50 million years, and the moment at the
checkout are all your gifts to me.

I pray for the grace to know that, and to wonder at it.

John Polhill