Prayer on the Eve of the Climate Conference, COP26 in Glasgow

(The conference is being held Oct. 31-Nov. 12.)

God of all creation, in creativity and beauty you made the world, calling it into being. We rejoice in the majesty of mountains and the exquisite beauty of the crocus. We are in awe of the cry of the loon and the pounding roar of the waterfall. Our souls are lifted by the aroma of the flowers of the field and the smell of ocean breezes. The creation, the work of your hands, is beautiful beyond words.

We confess, Lord God, that in our stewardship of creation we have failed, we have in fact damaged the creation. In our taking too much and in our lack of caring; in our unwillingness to be satisfied with enough and in our desire for more; we have marred the beauty of the creation you have made. We so easily said that we were sorry for the damage we have done, but we admit we have done little to change our lives to live in better harmony with the creation.

Convict, us O Lord, convict us of our wrongdoing, of our callous indifference, of our destruction of the work of your hands, that we might not only confess our sin towards the creation, but desire to change our way of life. Change our hearts, break our greed and selfishness. Change our wills, motivate to us action. Change us we pray, that we might be faithful stewards of your creation. By the Holy Spirit teach us the patterns of life you would have us live, living human-sized lives, so that we might hear you say “Well done, good and faithful servants.”

Give wisdom to the leaders of the nations gathering for the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. May words lead to clear steps forward, and good intentions be put into action.  

These things we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.