On Spiritual Traditions Overlap

Mother Earth

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My article today is brief due to family grief. I’ve been in Virginia all week helping my sister after my brother-in-law’s death. My sister worships the Goddess, my other sister, who is also here, follows Native American spirituality, and I am an Episcopal Priest. The funeral service today, which we offered for my eclectic brother-in-law Chris, wove together all three traditions, focusing on Mother Earth, while honoring his military Veteran status.

Photo by Louis Maniquet on Unsplash

Among other things, one sister sang the Native American “Calling in the Ancestors from the Four Directions,” our widowed sister sang two songs: “We All Come from the Goddess” and “Mother I Can Feel You,” while I included an abbreviated form of the prayer from the great Christian mystic St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226).

“Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

            Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

            Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, And fair and stormy, all weather's moods, by which You cherish all that You have made.

            Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water, So useful, humble, precious and pure.

            Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

            Praised be You my Lord through our Sister, Mother Earth who sustains and governs us, producing varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

            Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death, from whom no-one living can escape. Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility. Amen.”

I also concluded with the Celtic Blessing:

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold in the palm of his hand.”

As you might imagine, it was an atypical service, yet it hung together with love, respect for the earth and all people, and with transcendence. The Divine finds us wherever we land and whenever we open our hearts. May the love of God heal those who grieve and embrace those who return to the light.

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On an entirely different note, I want to highlight that I have book of sermons available for purchase on Amazon. It is entitled “Holy Incarnation! God Said What?: Transformational Sermons for Progressive Christians, Volume 1, Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.”  This is a great way to enjoy brief writings about Christian spirituality. You can purchase it here: Holy Incarnation! God Said What?