Pope Francis has designated September 1 as a World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, following the release of his encyclical this summer, Laudato Si (Praise Be to You). In this document, the Pope urges all of us to take urgent action to care for and save God’s creation.
This prayer is from a Christian Prayer in Union with Creation: “Father, we praise you with all your creatures. They came forth from your all-powerful hand; they are yours, filled with your presence and your tender love. Praise be to you!”
In honor of this day and the gift of our beautiful Earth, here’s a poem I wrote this summer while walking by a nearby lake, in awe of what has come forth from His all-powerful hand.
Now Here
Who can fathom the flight path of the blue dragonfly and its silver wings glistening in the sun?
Who can see the beeping quail calling to one another in the oleanders?
Who can find the living thing rustling in the leaves of the bush?
Who can decode the sad who-whooing of the mourning dove’s song?
Who can appreciate the softness inside a purple flower as the hummingbird sucks its supper?
Who can feel the wind rattling the cottonwood’s leaves and whooshing the pine’s needles?
Who can predict the path of the falling yellow leaf in its dizzy dance to earth?
Who can catch the leaping fish rippling the water’s surface?
Who can wait silently and still like the great blue heron paused in the lake?
Who can taste this one-of-a-kind, never-come-again day?
Me. I can.
I am Now Here.
