Source of Creation, known by many names and no name,

Be with us in this time of fear and crisis.  Be present to us through the interconnectedness of all life, even when that means our human species must refrain from physical connection with one another. Some of your children will not survive this pandemic.  We grieve for those who have already lost their lives, and continue to hold hope for the many yet to be touched by this virus.  Though we each must face the unknown within the solitude of our own homes, let us know how blessed we are, if we do have homes, sustained by our closest loved ones.  Be with those who are not so blessed, that they may find shelter and support.

Help us to recognize that the fevers within our bodies and the struggle for breath in our lungs, mirrors that of the cradle of our existence, Mother Earth.  We have long distanced ourselves from her, abused her, polluted her, robbed her of her life-sustaining waters, trees and pollinators.

Forgive our arrogance, to believe that we were separate from the rest of creation; our delusion that we were superior to other species and other peoples. Forgive our self-isolating from the realities of those who live without homes or hope. Forgive our selfishness and greed, which blinded us to the suffering our way of life has caused for planet and peoples.  We have become lonely, oblivious people, even as we’ve been surrounded by the busy-ness of society’s media.

Now, Holy One, we are instructed to isolate further, so as to halt the spread of this dis-ease.  May we take this time set apart to re-member, to remember that the want and hunger we feel is not for things but for true connection and intimacy. To remember that we are each but one strand in the fabric of our world, but that together we are The Web of Life.

Heal our bodies.  Heal our minds.  And Heal our souls. Breathe into us hope, compassion and resiliency.  Bless us, as we pass through this valley, to do so with our eyes opened (maybe for the first time) to our responsibility to one another and to Mother Earth.  Let this crucible refine us, and give us the fortitude we will need to heal our planet, so that all may be Eden once again.

Amen.

Rev. Theresa “Rivka” Gevurtz
March 16, 2020