Ocean Sunday Four Directions Prayer

We face East where the sun rises over the Merri Creek and all of creation celebrates the return of the sacred kingfisher . The frogs chorus, the crickets play their winged instruments, the chickens cluck and cackle, the dogs bark and the children laugh; a domestic symphony

We face South towards the Yarra, that urban river and the reason why we live here in this city. We think of the Wurundjeri people who have since time immemorial honoured and cherished this river and Port Philip Bay – gateway to the great Southern Ocean, and we honour them.

We face west towards the Indian Ocean – the youngest of all the oceans, yet older still and more mysterious than we can imagine. Where whales and dolphins, turtles and dugongs make their home.  Where blob fish are being disturbed and where fangtooths live way way way below where humans can go.

We face North towards the Pacific – the oldest and deepest ocean, where peaceful aqua seas turn to sapphire and  surge with deep sea currents, where coral reefs unfurl so slowly it is out of our time span. where tall mountains peak and trenches go deep along the ocean floor.

We face the centre and remember the splash of waves upon our feet, the sand between our toes, the mystery of an endless horizon stretching out across an ocean on fire in the last light of day.  We give thanks for the oceans acknowledging that we live because they exist.