Canada Day Congregational Prayer

God of all the earth,
we pray today from the piece of the world we call Canada,
land of mountains and prairie, boreal forest and tundra,
a land of beauty from coast to coast to coast.
Thank you for peace in our time,
for democratic government, for health care,
for social safety nets and municipal services
delivering reliable electricity and clean, drinkable water.
In a country with so many blessings
we confess that these are not distributed equally;
there are First Nations communities without drinking water,
there are people who are hungry,
and many who are not caught in any safety net.
In this election year, help us call our government to account,
raising issues of inequality and racism.
Help us do better as a country,
addressing historic injustice and systemic abuse.
Even now as we are in a state of climate crisis,
help our government make choices
focussed not only on this generation
but on generations to come,
focussed not only on human welfare,
but on the welfare of all your creatures;
the salmon, the wolf, the snow goose, the monarch butterfly.
Thank you for religious freedom, and freedom of the press
which many countries do not enjoy;
protect us from public discourse steeped in hatred.
We pray for the peace of the world,
and that Canada could be a voice for peace,
using our many resources to help the most marginalized.
Help us here in our congregation,
comfort those among us who are sick or grieving,
and empower us to be a community of caring
in our neighbourhood and workplaces
all in the name of your son Jesus Christ,
and in the power of the Holy Spirit, who sustains us,
Amen