Saturday, July 8, 2023

The hot, humid, and muggy weather does not want to let go.  Some may think I am a little nutty about conserving water because I use the bucket from the basement dehumidifier to help water the garden.  Water is so important to or life here on earth; without it we would not survive, so it’s important to save as much as we can.

Of course, as we had those torrential downpours on the Fourth, we think the ground is fully saturated.  But June was dry, very dry, especially for the farmers who want to make sure we have those Jersey tomatoes and sweet corn.  In this dreadful humidity, the grey clouds just hang over us.

At this time of year, though, even the dry desert has life – and beauty.  Certain forms of cacti have flowers; they may not last long but they are beautiful. Short-lived, cacti flowers will even bloom in pots when we least expect their beauty. The desert looks vast and although it may be as far as the eye can see, it is important for us to preserve its wilderness not just for beauty’s sake but as part of God’s creation.  

Prayer for the Day

So much preoccupies us in our busy world, O God,
    That we sometimes forget to center ourselves on you;
We’re so concerned about our comforts, O Holy One,
    That we sometimes close our hearts to the cries of the world.
Move us from our failure of ourselves and of you,
     So we are able to live as your disciples as did those of old.
 In the name of the One who calls us to discipleship,
     Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

Thoughts for the Day

I drifted into a summer nap under the hot shade of July, serenaded by a cicada lullaby, to drowsy warm dreams of distant thunder.
      - Terri Guillemets, from Summer-nap

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.
      - Russell Baker, American journalist (1925-2019)

You cut openings for springs and torrents; you dried up the ever-flowing streams
   Yours is the day, yours also the night; you established the luminaries and the sun.
      You have fixed all the bounds of the earth; you made summer and winter.
    Psalm 74: 15-17