As a child I loved Walt Disney movies. Although my favorite movie was Bambi which made me a life-long foe of hunting, my favorite scene is from Snow White when she sings “With a Smile and a Song,” and all the woodland animals come to her.
I thought about that as I saw the doe and her fawn resting in my yard early this morning. Some of my friends think I’m crazy to talk in soft tones to deer and even birds and those pesky squirrels, but they don’t always run from me – I do feed them, of course.
We’re a week away from Midsummer, which originated as a pagan holiday to welcome the summer season and ensure a successful harvest. So that early morning light will come earlier until next week, when the days will begin to grow shorter even as the days become hotter. We need to consider not just this summer but future ones and protect the creation God has given us.
Prayer for the Day
Joining with all creation, we of the earth sing of your glory,
For you, O God, inspire such awe in us that we tremble;
But even as your glory resounds in our ears, we are caught in trivia,
And are vexed by the little things that seize our days.
Reveal your light through the faces of those around us
And infuse in us an understanding of other thoughts and ways,
As did our Example, the One we follow,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
Thoughts for the Day
One touch of nature makes the whole world kin/That all with one consent praise new-born gawds,/Though they are made and moulded of things past,/And give to dust that is a little gilt/More laud than gilt o'er-dusted.
William Shakespeare from Troilus and Cressida, Act III, Sc.1
How strange that nature does not knock/and yet does not intrude./The soul should always stand ajar/ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.
Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886)
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech and night to night declares knowledge;
There is no speech, nor are there words; their vice is not heard;
Yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
Psalm 19: 1-4