As prayerful urban activists, our Mile High Ministries team cultivates an appreciation for the vitality of the human-built environment of our city—a daily urban system buzzing with life. But we never forget that we are even more deeply situated within the sacred environs of earth and sky.
We share life with our resident families along the Platte River that empties from the Rocky Mountains onto the Great Plains. From our office windows we greet the morning rays of sun from the east, and from Joshua Station we admire fiery sunsets over the peaks in the west. Importantly, we honor the legacy of earlier residents who stewarded this sacred land, including Apache, Ute, Cheyenne, Comanche, and Arapahoe peoples.
Several people on our team make sure to remind us of these earth-roots daily. Years of prompting has infused our whole team with a sense that we are held by God’s good creation in the work that we do—a tangible expression of divine love. This is the wellspring from which our place-based community-building flows.
One longtime staff reminder voice is our Penny Salazar-Phillips. To nourish her spirit, Penny often walks in the morning near her home at Sloan’s Lake (pictured here). This spring we’ve already experienced our annual exuberant text from Penny reporting the first pelican arrival! Penny offers this prayer for Spring:
May the Rising Sun Remind Us
O Creator God, maker of all that is, who always has been,
may the rising sun remind us of you and all you have created.
In this season of budding beauty, new birth and the gift of renewal are beheld.
Where deep calls to deep, give us eyes to see the bounty you call forth,
from the ground of the earth and from our souls.
May the meditations of our hearts become the Light. (a)
Crown us, O God with steadfast love. (b)
Anoint our heads with the overflowing cup of oil. (c)
Endow us with your great wisdom and strength. (d)
Beloved, we come overflowing. We thank you.
Our gratitude abounds and speaks of your goodness.
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Scripture inspiration: (a) Psalm 19 (b) Psalm 103 (c) Psalm 23 (d) Psalm 37. Cultural inspiration: “Prayer of the Four Directions” from various Indigenous traditions, with East representing dawn, light, wisdom, and spring. More reflections prompted by Mile High Ministries’ life and work in our beloved city can be found in our book Beyond Our Efforts: A Celebration of Denver Peacemaking.
