Dear Heaven. Dear Earth.
What came to me in my prayertime this morning was an invitation to use the Ancient Hoʻoponopono Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness as a way for us to pray to Heaven and to Earth. So here goes... please pray along if you wish.
Dear Heaven,
We are sorry for not listening. For not taking care of that which you have entrusted to us. We are sorry for not loving one another the way you love us. We are sorry for racing ahead in the name of money, wealth and independence instead of in your name and in dependence on you. We are sorry for forsaking stillness for busyness, love for competitiveness, ecology for economy. We have become, and are... truly lost. Oh Heaven, please forgive us all. Thank you for your patience, your power of Grace which knows no end. We see this Corona Virus as yet another chance for us to reflect on how we treat that which you have gifted us. We thank you for this present opportunity to reimagine a new way of being in the world: A way of Grace, of Patience, of Kindness, of the kind of Love that streams down from you, selflessly giving life to all that it flows through.
May we be this into the future as we look up often to Behold all that you are for us, in us, through us. May we (as we look upon one another), remember this love that we can be, and should be for each other. May we (as we look upon Mother Nature), feel deep love for that which you have created for us to take care of. We write and speak this prayer as a testament of our love for you, Oh Heaven. That you may hear us and have mercy on us in this time of need. May you hear us as we say from our deepest heart... we love you. We are here for you and we love you.
Sincerely Yours,
Humanity.
Amen.
Dear Earth,
We are sorry. We are sorry for discarding you, for using you, for abusing you. We are sorry for forgetting you and for taking you for granted. We are truly ashamed of what we have done to you. We are sorry for racing ahead in the name of progress instead of truly taking to heart the consequences that this behaviour would have for you. We are appalled at our forsaking your ecology for our economy.
Oh Earth, please forgive us all.
We are humbled by how you give and give and give. We are so deeply grateful for your gifts and how you constantly return to balance. Oh Earth, help us to remember how deeply connected and a part of you we truly are. Help us to transform from a human race to human kind once again. Help us to be kind to you. We thank you for your bounty of gifts. Thank you for reminding us of Truth, of Beauty, of Goodness... that you are. Thank you for helping us Return to Wonder. How wonderful you are, how pure you are. Oh Nature, may Heaven bless you. And may we be a part of that blessing into the future.
You have been given to us by Heaven, to look after for a while (and whilst we acknowledge how poorly we have taken up this responsibility), we cannot deny how much we need you, how much we love you.
May this prayer be for your ears and your heart, Oh Earth. Please hear our plea and our confession as we say from our deepest heart:
We acknowledge you.
We appreciate you.
And we love you.
Yours Sincerely,
Humanity.
Amen.