Today is the last full day of spring for the summer solstice occurs at 4:24 AM tomorrow. We know what it means scientifically, but what does entering the summer season mean emotionally, spiritually? We talk about long summer evenings, and they will be longer for our days will begin being shorter although we probably won’t notice it until August.
We think about all the tasks we meant to complete this spring that is ending today and wonder how long they can be postponed. We humans make procrastination an art, especially if it means we need to make real change in our lives rather than just inching along, little by little.
We use phrases like “lazy, hazy days of summer” but the world around us doesn’t take a vacation from the pressing issues we face. Even though the days will grow shorter, the extra light we still have can serve to give us time to reflect, not just on the day ahead but on where we are headed as a society, as a Nation.
Prayer for the Day
Your gentle breeze comes in through the windows, O God,
Urging us to take note of the world around us;
You beckon us to breathe in the wind of your Spirit, O Lord,
So our lungs are filled with your everlasting Presence.
Open the windows of our souls, O Holy One,
So we respond to you as does the earth around us.
In the name of the One who beckons us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
On spying a crab shedding its shell by the Hudson River, she observes: “I saw myself as this crawling thing … I imagined myself moulting, trying to come out from my old skin, hiding away until the new shell hardened.”
Xiaolu Guo, Chinese-British writer, from Radical
Best of all is to prepare everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving and for every breath a song
Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist and botanist, (1516-1565)
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel, in the night my heat also instructs me.
I keep the Lord before me who is at my right hand, so I shall not be moved.
Psalm 16: 5-8