Con-spiring Together: Breathing for Justice
Sunday 24th November 2024, led by Zoe Cuckow
This liturgy draws gratefully on Dr Laurel Kearns’s work with excerpts from her inspirational chapter ‘Con-spiring Together: Breathing for Justice’ from ‘The Elements: The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Nature’, published by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2018.
Gathering
We take a few moments to arrive in our chosen space, settling into a comfortable position.
Laurel writes ‘Take a deep breath… a deep breath of God’s breath, of plant and animals, of each other’s breath. Exhale it slowly…. You have just engaged in an interspecies ritual of communion. Now take another one, after all our lives depend on it. Just like we recognise how essential it is to breathe, we must recognise that air is sacred, it is the essence of life.’
Readings
Theophilus of Antioch, a 2nd century Christian writer
“God has given to the earth the breath which feeds it. It is God’s breath that gives life of all things. And if God were to withhold it, everything would be annihilated. God’s breath vibrates in your breath, in your voice. It is the breath of God that you breathe.”
Saying from The Upanishads, an ancient sacred Hindu text
“Fire is His head, the sun and moon His eyes, space His ears, the Vedas His speech, the wind His breath, the universe His heart. From His feet the Earth has originated. Verily, He is the inner self of all beings.”
Take a breath… a deep breath… If it is clean air, give thanks for it. Exhale it slowly....
Bad Air, Excerpt from UltraViolet by Joshua Bennet
...So, no, my house doesn’t have solar panels on the roof,
my parents don’t own a hybrid automobile
I never really considered myself an environmentalist
until the day I realised that it is all connected
the neighbourhoods that host toxic waste facilities
are almost always communities of colour
the chemicals in the water that make our little girls look grown
before they are old enough to deal with the consequences
my little brother can’t run quite as fast
as I could when I was his age
because the smog has its fingers pressed firmly around his windpipe
until the day we can exhale away this pain
you will hear my voice cascading across the sky
unmistaken as the sound of a crashing pesticide plane
begging Mother Earth
to have mercy on her children.
In our city of London, the need for clearer air is an environmental, social and racial justice issue too. London’s most deprived communities are still most likely to live in the most polluted areas of the city. In 2019, in the most deprived areas, the average Nitrogen dioxide concentration was 4.4 micrograms per cubic meter higher than in the least deprived areas. On average, in London’s diaspora communities, average Nitrogen dioxide levels were 8.1% higher than the London-wide average.
(Data from ‘Air Pollution and Inequalities in London’ report, London City Hall, June 2023)
Laurel writes ‘Take a deep breath, a deep breath of air. Exhale it slowly… Now take another one, after all, our lives depend on it. Just like we do not willingly stop breathing, we are not going to give up, we refuse to be numb, to collapse into despair. That will get us nowhere. Each breath contains the elements of life, and now of our destruction. Do not let the latter take your breath away.’
Contemplative Time
Spend 15 minutes in the Southwood Garden or wherever we are.
Regathering
There is time to share a few words about your time of contemplation, if you wish to.
Prayer of Con-Spiring by Laurel Kearns
O God who is above us and below us,
around us and inside us with each breath we take,
we thank you for the Breath of Life.
From the very beginning we are told,
your Breath, your ruach, your presence enlivens the world
and brings all of creation to life.
All creatures exchange your Breath with the trees and plants,
thousands of times each day,
con-spiring together, breathing together,
participating in an interspecies ritual of communion with you,
reminding us of the sacred gift of life.
We have been taught to recognise the body and blood of Christ
in the everyday world of grains and grapes.
May we now learn to sense your presence
in every breath we take so that we understand that
when we dirty the air,
when our actions make it so others cannot breathe,
when we make the creation warm too much,
we stifle your presence, we defile the Breath.
Let us vow that in our life’s limit of breaths,
we make it so no one has to say, “I can’t breathe.”
Let us vow that in our life’s limit of breaths
our breathmates, the trees, can live and thrive.
O God of Breath,
may each breath we take together -
our con-spiring with each other and the forest –
may it clear our minds and hearts.
May it enliven our vision with justice and compassion.
May it reconnect us with the creation
so that we strive to truly live in communion
with all living beings on this one earth.
And so, with each breath –
(We say the Hebrew name of God as we breathe in and out)
YAHHH WEHHH
YAHHH WEHHH
- We remember that life is sacred.
Closing Prayer
Excerpt from Black Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley
It’s a season of unmasking, of veils lifted. We are seeing our collective soul with a clarity that is disorientating. Listen for the apathy, the cruelty and neglect. Then listen closely for all who dare resist.
INHALE
Every breath sacred.
EXHALE
Every face sacred.
Amen
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