Friends Maia and Ken Tapp have created an awesome work of art called The Prayer of the World.   Maia is a gifted poet and writer, the author of several books.  Many years ago, as she awakened more fully to her connection with God, she experienced inner leadings to  visit particular places on Earth, places of wonder, places where wild creatures live.  She felt called to listen to the divine Spirit that created the world and which is always communicating with humanity through nature. In these places, she has heard a loving voice urging human beings to join in the ongoing prayer of the world.  It spoke to her in poetry, inviting us to recognize the sacred web of life and find our real place within this web.

Maia’s words have been combined with amazing nature photographs by her husband, Ken Tapp, images that reveal the incredible beauty and variety of nature, its rhythms, its sacred dance of life, both in large landscapes and in minute details.

Photo by Ken Tapp

I have witnessed the Prayer of the World in several different settings now, most recently at the 2016 summer Friends General Conference Gathering, where a showing was sponsored by the Earthcare Working Group.  Maia read the words of the Prayer of the World out loud and Ken Tapp’s images of the awesome splendor and the beautiful intricacy of the natural world were projected on a large screen.  Ken Jacobsen, with his guitar and voice, provided music.

Each time I’ve seen the Prayer of the World, I’ve felt shaken out of a certain dull habituation with this world to see more clearly God’s awesome handiwork.  Each time it has been breathtaking to  recognize more clearly the wisdom and healing power present in Creation.  The world is alive to its sacred source and it is calling us to wake up to the sacredness of our own nature and to our interconnection with Spirit and with all created things.  Its message for humanity is an urgent one, calling us to awaken.

Parts of The Prayer of the World are now available online at www.prayeroftheworld.org/ 

Prayer of the World: Have you experienced moments when God communicated with you through your encounter with the natural world?  Have you glimpsed the sacred nature of all things?  How are you called to join the prayer of the world?

For U.S. citizens: are you registered to vote?  Your vote can help humanity choose the path of protecting the natural world for all of us.

© 2016 Marcelle Martin

For information about the December 2, 2021 online celebration of the publication of Prayer of the World: A Rainbow Psalm, go here: https://awholeheart.com/online-offerings/publication-of-prayer-of-the-world/