May 2026 WATERritual: Celebrate Beauty
May WATERritual
Tuesday May 26, 2026 at 7.30pm ET
“Celebrate Beauty”
with Diann L. Neu and the WATER Community
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83285953460
The video recording can be watched here: https://youtu.be/3biDaatqoCw
Preparation:
Have nearby a symbol that represents Earth’s beauty to you (i.e. flower, soil, water, and so many others). For readers of the Call to Gather, have the symbol that you need for your part: chimes, candle, bowl of water, or flower.
Welcome
Welcome to this liturgy, “Celebrate Beauty.” All of life is bursting forth in beauty these days—peonies, irises, flowering trees, herbs, dandelions, and so
many more. The beauty of the universe surrounds all of humanity, especially during mid-spring. May festivals celebrate this fertility. Beltane, the month of Mary, Mother of God, and May Queens honor those who bring forth life. The Earth is warming again and the sun grows stronger. Beauty exists for all creation to notice, delight in and give praise to our Creator Spirit.
This ritual invites us to celebrate beauty and to restore beauty to the Earth even as wars, violence, and climate destruction rage. The planet needs our protection so that it can be beautiful beyond seven generations.
Think of something that is beautiful to you. Capture it in a word, one word only. Let’s unmute ourselves and say our words of beauty. (Naming)
Song: “For the Beauty of the Earth” by F.S. Pierpont (1864)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pO7MIiICG0&ab_channel=TheTabernacleChoiratTempleSquare
For the beauty of the Earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies,
Source of All to you we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
Call to Gather in Beauty
(The caller faces East and sounds chimes.)
Spirit of the East,
Filled with the Winds of the air cycle,
Breathing the universe in and out again,
Come, bring beauty to Planet Earth.
(The caller faces South and lights a candle.)
Spirit of the South,
Filled with the metabolism of the fire cycle,
Producing energy to warm cold bodies,
Come, bring beauty to Planet Earth.
(The caller faces West and sprinkles water.)
Spirit of the West,
Filled with the flow of the water cycle,
Pouring moisture in and through and out of you,
Come, bring beauty to Planet Earth.
(The caller faces North and touches a flower.)
Spirit of the North
Filled with the creation of the Earth cycle,
Producing food to feed hungry creatures,
Come, bring beauty to Planet Earth.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Source of All Life, we give you thanks and praise. You make all life holy and fill the universe with your goodness. Give us strength to understand and eyes to see all that you entrust to our care. Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives to all that live and inhabit your creation. We honor and praise You, now and forever. Amen. Blessed Be. Let It Be So.
Song: “Now I Walk in Beauty,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsS8IZqlt5s&ab_channel=BetseyBeckman
Now I walk in beauty, beauty is before me, beauty is behind me, above and below me, around and within me.
Reading: Listen to the words of Hildegard of Bingen, from Meditations with Hildegard of Bingen, edited by Gabriele Uhlein, c. 1983.
“Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty of Earth’s greeting.
Now, think.
What delight God gives to humankind
With all these things…
Reflection/Group Sharing
The Earth is full of beauty. We walk in beauty daily. How did you notice it today? What beauty do you wish for this season? How will you work to restore beauty to the Earth? (Sharing)
Blessing the Earth’s Beauty
Hold your symbol of Earth’s beauty. Listen to the message the symbol has for you. (Pause) Let us bless these symbols of the Earth’s beauty.
Blessed are you, gracious and loving Holy One, for giving us these symbols of Earth’s beauty. They fill us with gratitude, and challenge us to see beauty and be beauty for the world. May we walk in beauty always. We are beauty for our world.
Take Action for Beauty
. Keep our oceans and beaches clean and debris-free by recycling and using fewer plastic products.
. Support reforestation by planting a tree. We need our forests and jungles to produce oxygen in exchange for our carbon dioxide.
- Plant flowers to give our pollinators – butterflies, bees, and birds – a job producing seeds and food.
. Use energy efficient appliances.
- Reduce our carbon footprint.
Prayers of the Community
Who needs our prayers today? Tell us so that we may pray with them. (Sharing)
Sending Forth
Beautiful people, let us go forth to walk in beauty.
May beauty be within us.
May beauty be around us.
May we see beauty in each other.
May beauty be ours in eternal life.
Song: “May the Road Rise Up to Meet You”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inb4S81pgPQ&ab_channel=InglebyBarwickCommunityChoir
2026 Diann L. Neu, dneu@hers.com, adapted from Return Blessings: Ecofeminist Liturgies Renewing the Earth by Diann Neu