Wondrous Gift of Life, thanks for this day and this gathering in our beautiful diversity and devoted generosity! We revel in our blessings for and from this holy life! Washed and refreshed in such grace, we celebrate the joys of this life. And yet, beloveds, our hearts sink too in weary grief at the desecration flowing at the other end of this mighty river. We keen and rage at the shocking blight of oil defiling the azure nursery of the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and defiling the resplendent living shores, steadily devouring a blessed and treasured way of life. O lovers of life, we who delight in this world's beauty and love, do not lose heart and turn away from terrifying hallowed labors. Pour our courage into a river of reprieve to comfort and aid those now afflicted: the families who lost fathers and brothers and sons to the fire, and all who are losing health, home, life, and sanctuary to the suffocating slick. Treasure our care and joy for the marvelous multitude of citizens of land and sea and air now dispossessed, drowned, dispersed, and dispatched by this vast waste and error. Our hearts commend us to the sacrificial work of restoration and refuge: to find what is lost and heal what is broken and be help and healing to the hurting. Our faith ever calls us thus: leave no one behind; let no desecration occur without our flood of restoration. This life blesses us so abundantly! May we bless life in return: making real the hope with which we pray, bringing the light of which we sing, and giving more than we can imagine of this love that is our center and our highest aspiration. Wash this world again in blessing. Amen.