To Laugh or to Cry

We received a worship resource here at the parish called "Enough for All", an ecumenical service on the theme of caring for creation. It comes out of The Primate's World Relief and Development Fund and two other ecumenical partners. All good and well. There's some good stuff in there, and we will probably use some of it for our intercessions on an upcoming Sunday.

However, one particular prayer jumped out at me. It goes like this (emphasis mine):

We pray for the air - which sustains us with every breath, and regulates a climate where life can flourish. Help us to understand our dependence on a stable atmosphere and recognize our need to reduce dangerous accumulations of the polluting emissions that we humans are responsible for. Teach us to change our careless and wasteful behaviour for the good of the world.

God of the Winds and Gases, show us your glory and hear us.

Hmmmmm. I wonder what we think God might be hearing.

I laughed out loud when I read this. Somebody wrote this for real? With a straight face? I would never be able to pray this without giggling.

But after thinking about it for a minute, I felt a little different. That this can pass over an editor's desk, let alone be written so carelessly for use in Christian worship, that this may well be prayed somewhere: this makes me want to cry.

God help us.