Cry River: A Prayer for the Amazon
O River Mother, May it Be.
May it Be, Star Father.
May it Be for Water and Wind.
May it Be for Sunlight and Moonlight.
For the Earth, the Winged and Creeping Ones,
The Four Leggeds and Two Leggeds,
Those with Words and those with Songs,
For the river and its children, May it Be.
May it be on Earth as in Heaven.
May it be as it was in the Beginning
When the Spirit said, 'Flow!'
And pure Waters moved through holiness
Up from empty darkness into light.
May it be as in the Beginning
When the Spirit said, 'Breathe!'
And a mighty wind blew seeds from East to West,
Many-colored wings beating in green shadows
Or flashing in sunbeams,
Gold and Purple Wings of Quetzalcoatl, Blue Seraphic wings,
Christ's diamond wing over the jade forest.
May it be as in the Beginning
When the Spirit cried 'Sun!' and it was warm,
The Spirit whispered 'Moon' and it was cool,
And two lights opened their eyes, nurturing blossoms to bear
The Brazil-nut, Acai and Guarana,
Sweetening our lips, strengthening our bones.
May it Be as on the morning when the Spirit cried 'Earth'
And her green body stirred, her brown hills awoke
They rolled over, making valleys;
She parted her lips and the forest sighed, the rain laughed,
The river was a river singing
A song we have not forgotten,
Song of the Mother 'Amasonna':
'Destroyer of Boats,' Shelterer of Tribes,
Mistress of Sacred Medicine, Giver of Visions,
Lung of the Planet, Breath of the World.
May it Be for the trees,
May it Be for the voiceless creatures,
May it be for her deep black veins that must never be pierced again,
May it Be for the healing of her waters,
May it Be for her supple arms of sunlight and wind,
May it Be for the people who dwell upon her banks
And for those so far away we cannot smell
Her flower-scented rain:
May it be as on the first day
a New Creation,
Birthing the River and the River's children once again.
May we all say, 'Flow!'
'FLOW!'
May we all say, 'Breathe!'
'BREATHE!'
May we all say, 'Shine!'
'SHINE!'
May we all cry, 'River!'
'RIVER!'
In the name of the Father, and of the Mother,
and of the Holy Children - We.
Ameen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Fred LaMotte for Bishop Vincent Warner, who read this prayer at The Talking Trees Concert to save the Amazon rain forest at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle, June 19, 2010
