Starter Prayer: Deep peace of the quiet earth to you, who herself unmoving, harbors the movements and facilitates the life of the ten thousand creatures, while resting contented, stable, tranquil. Deep peace of the quiet earth to you! (Celtic Prayer)

Focus Phrase: Honoring Earth

Scripture Reading: Psalm 33; Exodus 3:5

Optional Read-along: Water, Wind, Earth and Fire pp. 141b (Conclusion, Section: Honoring the Four Elements, Earth)

Spiritual Direction:

During this journey you explored the impact of earth on your own prayer and spiritual life: through the tree of life, holy mountains, gardens, limitations, feasting and communion and earth’s creatures.

Today, we enter into the final movement of prayer around these themes.

For prayer practice: Make yourself comfortable near the altar space you created. Relax in your seat. Feel your feet beneath the ground. Breathe deeply, and spend some time in silence. 
     Turn toward the north, the place of midnight moon, a time for reflection and turning inward and the season of winter.
     Become conscious of the elements of earth and the way your body is made of earth and will one day return to the earth. Imagine God as the potter and you as the clay being formed and shaped. See God as the vine and you as one of the branches extending out into the world. Experience your rootedness in the divine.
     Notice in your body where you feel the gift of earth. Fee the gifts of the earth, of seeds holding wisdom underground, of roots sinking deep. Rest in your grounding and in your place on the earth. Find a few moments for introspection and solitude, listening for the wisdom of night dreams. Listen to the wisdom of the elders and the sages, those who have entered the winter of their lives.
     Ponder where in your life you feel the gift of earth. Where do you need a deeper sense of grounding? Where is the call to more contemplation and resting in stillness?
     With the Psalmist say: The earth is full of your goodness (Psalm 33).

Tomorrow we conclude this 6-week journey of Praying with Nature with one short, simple, powerful prayer that you can carry with you in the weeks to come.

Be encouraged in your practice,
Katie Martinez

Endnotes

• For daily texts with the Focus Word, Starter Prayer and link to these daily posts, text the word “journey” to 970-500-0970.
• Are you receiving the weekly guide every Sunday via email? Register here.
• Join the Orange Dots of Hope Facebook Group for spiritual conversations on the journey.

This daily devotion is part of the Summer Growth Journey: Learning to Pray with Nature with Crossroads Church. Many of us are also reading through Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements by Christine Valters Paintner. To purchase a copy, or for more information, email us at [email protected].