While I was on Isle of Iona, I would walk away from the village and just spend time breathing in the refreshing sea air and absorbing the sights of God’s creation.  Take time this week to pause, breathe and absorb the sights around you.

Prayer  of Thanks for Creation

Thank you, God,
thanks for the beauty:
the twinkle in an older person’s eyes,
a child’s shout of laughter;
thanks for greening trees and frozen waterfalls,
stunning buildings and flowerbeds of summer.

Thank you, God,
thanks for creativity:
the skills of a tapestry weaver,
the imagination of a web designer;
thanks for bakers and dancers and crossword compilers,
for spider’s webs and city murals.

Thank you, God,
thanks for abundance:
for seeds and raindrops,
for grains of sand and infinite galaxies;
thanks for seagulls, plankton and shoals of mackerel,

Thanks for your world, God,
and for our part in it.
thanks that you are a maker,
and that you made us makers too.

Help us to love creation as you love it,
to take risks to value it as Jesus did,
and draw us into the wildness and wonder of your Holy Spirit
today and every day.
Amen.

From  Iona Abbey Worship Book (2017), The Iona Community,  wild goose publications – www.ionabooks.com

Photos by JBR

Iona Abbey – Isle of Iona, Scotland

Sheep enjoying the pasture/golf course

West side of the Isle of Iona