By Rev John Davies
We give thanks for the purple wheelie bin
Receptacle of all our rubbish,
Carrier-away of our cast-offs, unused goods, undigested foodstuffs, nappies, wrappers, broken electrical items and all the discarded clutter of our cupboards and our lives.
A blessing on those who make it their work to collect these bins together and pour their contents into a waiting lorry,
labouring through soaking rain and stinking heat on behalf of the rest of us wasteful citizens;
A blessing on those who wheel out the bins for their forgetful or frail neighbours, and wheel them in again afterwards;
A blessing on those who brighten up their wheelie bins by painting on them pictures of flowers, favourite TV characters or cartoonish self-portraits.
We give thanks for the purple wheelie bin
Receptacle of all our rubbish.
Give us patience with those who use our wheelie bins as playthings: climbing on them, racing down the road in them like plastic chariots, setting them on fire;
Give us strength to push our full and heavy bins to the roadside, when we are feeling feeble on bin collection morning;
Keep us calm if in a moment of panic we should think our bin has gone, wheeled away up the road or into oblivion.
Help us to forgive those who, years ago now, decided without asking us, that our bins should be purple.
Help us to recycle, and bless those who want to help us to recycle more.
Help us to use less packaging, and bless those who want to sell us things with less packaging on them.
Give us grace to care about our waste and the way it affects our city's space.
We give thanks for the purple wheelie bin
Receptacle of all our rubbish.
