As week one of an exploration of a few of the Psalms, and under the heading "all creation worships God?" this is the creative writing that emerged for this morning's service... (Advance posted to appear when we are at church!!)

The author of Luke tells us that as Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’

Stones, rocks, boulders, pebbles…

We come in all shapes and sizes

And are born – if we may use such a word – in different ways:

Spewed forth from the molten heart of a volcano

Squeezed beneath the surface of the earth

Or the product of centuries of sedimentation…

Silently, we observe all human life.

Silently, we are used, and abused, in the cause of human life.

Flints struck to create a spark to light a fire

Stones sharpened for use as tools… and as weapons…

Polished and cut to ornament human bodies… or the floors of palaces…

Used as slingshot to maim or kill

Quarried and fashioned into regular blocks

And built in dwellings for humans… or for deities…

Gathered into circles to contain fires

Or built into walls to protect sheep and cattle… or exclude entire nations…

Pebbles joyfully skimmed across the surface of a river

Or thrown angrily, deep into the depths of the sea…

Silently we watch… silently we listen…

Silently we delight… silently we despair…

Just below the threshold of human hearing.

Just beyond the comprehension of those whose lives we share,

We too, utter prayers and praises to the one in whom we have our being

For the hurt we have caused, in natural disaster and in human activity, Lord, have mercy

For the joys we have brought, in the natural environment and in human endeavour, Lord we praise you

That your promises be fulfilled, that all will be made anew in your Kingdom of Shalom, Lord we beseech you

God, rock of ages, hear our prayer. Amen.