Yesterday evening after work it was still light. Walking up towards the house, I felt the crunch of fallen leaves on the walk –where did they come from? I hadn’t noticed them before. That’s the way we are, sometimes, not noticing the little things, like the sound of leaves beneath our feet.
Little things like the spotted lanternfly that evidently sucks the sap from trees. Labelling one of the bottles used for spraying plants and using white vinegar (it’s cheap!) and there’s no residue to clean up – works great on weeds, too, you can watch them keel over (I would, too, if sprayed like that).
Other little things like the birds returning from the far north catch our attention – the woodpecker starts early in the morning. We really don’t watch squirrels gathering accords rather than eating the birdseed but perhaps we should. Little things remind us of our place in God’s creation.
Prayer for the Day
In the stillness of the night we sense your presence, O God,
In the light of the morning, we call for you; O Lord,
Open our eyes to a world beyond our imagination,
And fill our minds with visions of a world of peace.
Enflame us, so we burn with a passion for the earth,
Protecting the world you have given us.
In the name of the One who speaks so even the birds listen
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
Mary Oliver, American poet (1935-2019)
In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence.
Robert Lynd, Irish poet and essayist (1879-1949)
For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine.
Psalm 50: 10-11