Summer is here now but rather than warm (not hot, at least not yet) sunny days, we are supposed to have a week of wet weather. In some ways, it’s a respite from our ideal rushing to the beach or other outdoor activities. Rainy summer days can help us pause and take stock of who and where we are They are also great for reading books.
We like to think of summer as a down time, but usually it’s just another season of what has become our frenzied life. We should be grateful for the kind of rain we have today, gentle and slow. There are parts of the world, parts of our country, that need the rain we have. The forecast of steady rain does put a damper on the coming holiday.
Up north, in Boston, where the first revolutionaries were beginning to oppose “Fat George,” as the king was called, it promises to be sunny. Thinking about revolution can be difficult, as it was for our ancestors, but they took their early summer days doing just that. It called for a transformation in thinking. How will this summer transform us? We wonder, how iindeed?
Prayer for the Day
Ever present in our lives, O God, we look for your guidance,
Broadening our vision of how to live according to your will;
Shake us from our slumber and awake in us a new heat,
Transforming our preconceived notions of your work in the world.
Clothe us with your spirit and invest us with your insight,
Kneading us into your loaf of life, bread for all to eat.
In the name of the One who is your Bread of life,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Transformation is a process, and as life happens, there are tons of ups and downs. It’s a journey of discovery – there are moments of mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.
- Rick Warren, pastor, Saddleback Church
Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.
- Marianne Williamson, writer
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and take not your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Psalm 51: 10-12