Glory to God for Autumn Congregational Prayer

Glory be to God for autumn things!
For the green world changing colour;
golden, crimson, amber, rust.
For baskets of glorious apples:
delicious, ambrosia, russet, spy.
For the grain tumbling out of the combine,
the pumpkins filling the field,
for round bales of hay weighing down wagons.
And then the crisp fall breezes bringing clouds
heavy with rain, hinting of snows to come.
We come with thanksgiving for the rich blessing of the harvest,
and the work of the farmers who produced it.
God, this is a year where we take nothing for granted;
thank you for food on the table, secure food supply lines
and stable governments, for universal health-care
and a medical system that mostly works.
In this pandemic year, life has been hard for everyone,
but for some it’s harder than others.
We lift prayers for people who are grieving;
grieving the loss of loved ones, or the loss of jobs or businesses,
the loss of freedom to be with family or to travel.
We pray for health and an end to this pandemic.
God, we pray for a vaccine!  We need it soon,
we need it for everyone, and we need it to work.
In the meantime, help us look carefully at who we are.
We want to hold onto your values of love and justice;
watching to see where our own actions are racist,
where our own structures perpetuate inequality and injustice.
We thank you for the freedom we have to choose our government.
Guide our leaders who are making big decisions about the pandemic,
big decisions about our changing climate, and about our use of fossil fuels,
decisions that will have implications for generations.
As a community of faith, we put our trust in you.
You oversaw the ice ages, and the great move of continental plates.
Creatures came and went with time, known only by you.
Who are we, for you to notice us?
And yet, you hear our prayer. Your love is all around us.
Creation pours forth beauty every day.
You sent a saviour with a special delivery salvation message,
and a spirit who breathes hope into us even in times like these.
In the power of the Spirit, and in the name of Jesus,
our community praises you, now and always. Amen