Orthros Prayer Eleven

Human beings are the crown of creation. We are the only creatures on the face of the earth created in the image of God. That does not mean the other creatures don’t also praise Him. Today’s Daily Lenten Journey will look at how our prayers join us to creation.

O God, our God, Who by Your will brought into being the noetic and rational powers, we pray to You and we entreat You: accept our doxology which, together with all Your creatures, we offer according to our strength, and in return reward us with the rich gifts of Your goodness; for every knee in heaven, and on earth, and below the earth bows to You, and every breath and creature hymns Your unsearchable glory; for You are the only true and all-merciful God. For all the powers of the heavens praise You, and to You they send up glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

We only have a few more prayers to ‘finish’ our series on the silent Orthros Prayers. Today’s prayer reminds us that we are not alone in our praise and glory of God. Sure, the birds and creepy crawlers might not enter the Church with us, but they praise God in their own way.

This prayer reminds us of a time when we lived in total harmony with the created beings in the Garden, before our ancestors turned their backs on God. In fact, Great Lent is a perfect time to recall our time in the Garden when life was ‘simpler’ than in the fallen world.

When we lived in the Garden our entire life was devoted to loving God and caring for His creation. Now that we have fallen short of His grace, we forget to love Him and abuse His creation. This prayer is a daily reminder that we should be living in harmony with creation.

For those who excuse our abuse of creation by reminding us of what God said to our ancestors, “Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1.28) Dominion means being caretakers and protectors.

Some of the best caretakers are those who ‘live off the land’ because they know their abuse will end up hurting them. Being caretakers doesn’t mean abandoning every possible technological advantage to ‘live off the grid’ either. Having dominion is about living in harmony with and love.

When we love God, we care for His creation. When we love other people, we care about their needs. When we love ourselves, we turn our attention toward God for His grace and mercy. Having dominion means being loving Kings, and our King set the ultimate example.

So, allow this prayer to remind you that every chirping bird and every barking dog is praising God according to their own strength. As you walk through God’s creation today join your heart to every sound of nature and glorify God that He has reminded you to be a good caretaker.

Happy praying.