Blessing the waters of Moxlie Creek

Yesterday was the Baptism of Our Lord according to the liturgical calendar. In the Orthodox tradition it's also the time for house blessings (Epiphany) and the Great Blessing of the Waters. A group of us met at a local park to learn more about our watershed and bless the waters of Moxlie Creek, a local stream that flows for most of its short length through a pipe underneath downtown Olympia. The prayer we used is adapted from the Service of Baptism in the Leader's edition of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. 

Just and compassionate God, you are the river of life, your are the everlasting wellspring, you are the fire of rebirth.
We thank you for oceans and lakes, for rivers and streams. We honor you for cloud and rain, for dew and snow. Your waters are below us, around us, above us: our life is born in you. You are the fountain of resurrection.
We praise you for your saving waters: Noah and the animals survive the flood, Hagar discovers your well. The Israelites escape through the sea, and they drink from the gushing rock. Naaman washes his leprosy away, and the Samaritan woman will never be thirsty again.
Today we ask your blessing upon our watershed--Moxlie Creek-- along with the waters of Ward Lake, the Deschutes River and its estuary, and all the waters of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. Breathe your Spirit into all of us who are gathered here and into all creation. Strengthen us to redouble our efforts to preserve, protect, and defend the gift of clean water and healthy watersheds so that they might continue to be a blessing for all the people and all the creatures that depend upon them for life. Illumine our days. Enliven our bones. Dry our tears. Wash away the sin within us, and drown the evil around us.
Satisfy all our thirst with your living water, Jesus Christ, our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen