Totem Prayer, 9.11.25

Context note: I wrote this prayer to ground those who gathered for the Totem Pole Journey at UUCE on 9/11/25. My intention was to ground us as artists, musicians, clergy, and lay people into one shared purpose of reverence, centering us in humility, to align our varied gifts toward listening, witnessing, and faithful action under Indigenous leadership and protocol. Although I needed to leave before the community blessing of the totem, I remain grateful for the time I was able to stand with our community, to listen, and to add my voice to our common intent. I offer the prayer here in that same spirit of unity, accountability, and care. (Image credit: UUCE)

I invite you to take a moment to arrive fully.

Let your shoulders soften. Let your breath deepen. Let your feet feel the floor, the earth beneath the floor, the roots beneath the earth.

You are not separate from what you came to honor tonight. You are of the forests. You are of the rivers. You are of this living web.

A blessing, for the forests.
A blessing, for the rivers.

A blessing, for the children of the children.

May the sorrow we carry open into courage.
May the stories we hear today take root inside us.

May our ears learn to hear the language of the trees.

May our hearts break just enough to be changed.
May our feet remember how to move in rhythm with the land.

When the winds rise in grief,

When the waters churn with memory,

May we remember this:

We belong to the forests.
We belong to the rivers.
We belong to each other.

Spirit of Life,
Spirit of the Lands and Waters,
Spirit who lingers in stone and rain,
Spirit who sings in forests and rivers,

In inhale and exhale,
Spirit who waits for our return,

Be near to us now.

We offer this moment as a prayer.
For the children, who walk paths we will never see.
For the forests, who remember what we have forgotten.
For the ancestors, who whisper behind every wind.

May we act from love, not from fear.
May we choose courage, even when comfort calls louder.
May we live as if we truly belong to this Earth.

Let our prayers become footsteps.

You may wish to place a hand over your heart. Or open your palms beside you. Or turn them downward toward the ground.

Let your gesture be your prayer. Let your breath be your vow.

May we live our lives, each breath, each choice, as offerings of reverence for the lands that made us.

Amen. Blessed be.