Harvesting Our Talents

With thankfulness we offer
    our talents, given by you:
the gifts of art and music,
    crafts, hobbies, writing too,
our keen appreciation
    of colours, textures, sounds,
the overwhelming beauty
    with which this world abounds

We bring you from our gardens
    the flowers and food we've grown,
rejoicing in the pleasure
    that all of us have known
of watching what we've planted
    sprout, flourish and mature,
with gifts of rain and sunshine
    that make a harvest sure.

In this green land of plenty,
    of rivers, bushland, fields,
help us to guard its beauty
    and treasure what it yields.
O may we not abuse it
    by greed or lack of thought;
may we, like stewards, tend it,
    respect it as we ought.

So may we use our talents
    to educate, conserve,
that leading by example,
    this planet we preserve
from selfish exploitation
    of forests, oceans, lands;
the world be healed, replenished
    by your restoring hands.


Copyright © Jocelyn Marshall