It’s the first full day of summer, the longest day of the year, and it is a really lovely day for those of us in the Mid-Atlantic and New England. Apart from the rain forecast for tomorrow, which we desperately need, the rest of the week is supposed to reflect today with nice warm – not too hot – days and cool nights.
In other parts of the country, it’s not so nice with remnants of tropical storm Arthur drenching the South. And the warming waters of both Atlantic and Pacific have just helped to create more storms. We just hope they’re not too serious. And in the midst of this, we just continue to support fossil fuels.
The warming waters have other effects as well, killing off corals that sustain so much of the oceans and seas of the world. Agricultural runoff and plastic pollution add to their travails, plastic sometimes choking the corals, which are living beings. Let us enjoy this first day of summer keeping in mind how we must protect all life around 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, we are trapped by our desires,
Which often do not permit us to see the world around us.
Reveal your light through the needs of your creation
And infuse in us a commitment to change our ways.
In the name of the One we follow,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
If we can protect these more climate-resilient reefs and make sure that they are protected from other human impacts like pollution or dredging or other things, then we’re securing those more heat-resistant strains for the future until we can really get global warming under control.
Lizzie McLeod, Nature Conservancy
But with the word “The time will bring on summer,”
When briers shall have leaves as well as thorns
And be as sweet as sharp.
Helen, All’s Well That Ends Well, Act IV, scene 4
As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.
Genesis 8:22