In 2019 I am working on minimizing my life’s clutter, physical, mental and spiritual. Part of this is the practice of gratitude, and certainly that includes an appreciation for what I have. I believe Marie Kondo and other such proponents of decluttering are helping us to come to positive terms with our things, to know them in a way that makes us appreciate them rather than indulge in endless consumerism.
Be content with what you have — Joyce Dent, Hampshire UK | Worship Words
Creator of the Universe,
Lover of all that you make,
We thank you for this marvellous world
Which you have given us for our home.
Help us to show our gratitude
As much by our lives as by our words.
We acknowledge that so often
Our best efforts are tinged with greed,
The desire for more and different things;
And, at our worst we wholly disregard
The needs of others in this world.
Our greed is nothing less than theft
From those who have no power against us –
People, animals and nature’s store.
So much we once have done in ignorance;
In these days we have no excuse.
Continue, Lord, to open our eyes
To the enormity of our deeds,
And our hearts to the suffering and despoiling
Which those deeds have caused.
We ask forgiveness, Lord, from you;
From the children, women and men
Whose hurts have come from us;
And from every animal, plant and rock,
The skies above and the good earth itself,
Which nourishes and sustains us all.
By the power of your Spirit
May we change the way we live,
And follow again your path of healing,
Creator of the Universe,
And Lover of all that you make.
Joyce Dent is a member of the Andover United Reformed Church in Andover, Hampshire UK. Joyce has encouraged the Andover Church to an active Eco-Church.