In church today, we said the first of three specially recommended Prayers of the People. Trees offer the main emblems of the season; see if you can spot them in the prayers:
Blessed God, whose love calls the whole creation into covenant with you, and who puts in our hands responsibility for the care of the earth and its creatures: we pray for all to whom you have given life and being, saying, “Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.”
[I] For the well-being of the earth; for its resources of water, air, light, and soil, that they may be tended for the good of all creatures, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[II] For the waters of the earth; for their careful use and conservation, that we may have the will and the ability to keep them clean and pure, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[III] For the mineral and energy resources of the planet, that we may learn sustainable consumption and sound care of the environment from which they come, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[IV] For the animals of the earth, wild and domestic, large and very small, that they may know the harmony of relationship that sustains all life, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[V] For the creatures of the earth who do us harm and those whose place in your creation we do not understand or welcome, that we may see them as beloved creatures of God, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[VI] For all who shape public policies affecting the planet and its creatures [especially _____ ], that they may consider wisely the well-being of all who come after us, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[VII] For all those engaged in conservation, in agriculture and ranching, in aquaculture and fishing, in mining and industry, and in forestry and timber-harvesting, that the health, fruitfulness, and beauty of the natural world may be sustained alongside human activity, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[VIII] For the creatures and the human beings of your world who are ill, or in danger, pain, or special need [especially _____ ], and for all who suffer from the unjust, violent, or wasteful use of the earth’s resources or their devastation by war, that all may one day live in communities of justice and peace, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[IX] For the gifts of science and technology and for those who practice these skills, that they may be wise, visionary, and compassionate in their work, we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
[X] For the creatures and the people of the earth whose lives and deaths have contributed to the fruitful abundance of this planet [giving thanks especially for _____ ], we pray: Merciful God, keep your planet and people in peace.
The Presider concludes the Prayers with a suitable collect.
Did you find the trees? They're not there, nor any of their plant relations! We get animal and mineral but not vegetable. The plant-blindness seems almost wilful. We recall the earth's resources of water, air, light, and soil, that they may be tended for the good of all creatures [I], but, while light and soil matter especially for our plant kin, the only creatures mentioned in these prayers are animals [IV, V]. (It's another problem that human beings are distinguished from creatures [VIII], but at least we're mentioned.)
The existence of plants is clearly implied in VII, as it calls to mind agriculture as well as forestry and timber-harvesting (trees!), practices which should be so engaged in as to sustain the health, fruitfulness, and beauty of the natural world. But the natural world (like the environment in III) is just backdrop, an echo of the ordering of plants to providing food for all animals in Genesis (1:29). The failure to even acknowledge plants in themselves is most patent in the final prayer [X], which bids us reflect on the creatures and the people of the earth whose lives and deaths have contributed to the fruitful abundance of this planet. Had plants been mentioned before we might think that creatures here eminently includes them - there is no animal life without plant death, none! - but I don't think they're there. They're the and of the earth and its creatures.
I'm surprised how disappointed I am by this, a call to revere the harmony of relationship that sustains life [IV] that makes relationship with plants unthinkable. The history of Christian denigration of the other-than-human is clearly not over. Maybe I should take a more positive attitude. Recognition of animals as kin is already a huge step (though there's still that distinction between creatures and human beings to work through). More steps await!
* * *
[Update 22/9: I mentioned my bemusement to our rector, who subtly amended the prayers in response. [I] now runs
For the well-being of the earth; for its resources of water, air, light, PLANTS and soil, that they may be tended for the good of all creatures, we pray...
[II], [III], [V], [VII] and [IX] are skipped in the interest of time, and to allow for more local prayers of the congregation. But [X] is amended:
For ALL THAT LIVES ON THE EARTH, AND EVERY BEING whose lives and deaths have contributed to the fruitful abundance of this planet, we pray...
Deftly done! (Since adding to the already too long list wasn't an option.) I found myself making an ad hoc amendment of my own:
Merciful God, keep your PLANTS and people in peace.]