Even though it’s stopped raining – actually misting – the humidity in the air can be overwhelming. On mornings like these, even the birds haven’t begun their trips to the feeders. It’s as if they, too, want to shake off the humidity. We may complain about the weather but at least it’s not like the tinderbox dryness affecting the West.
The days are growing visibly shorter even as the weather becomes hotter. Scientists call this phenomenon seasonal lag. The water on our Eastern seaboard soaks up a lot of heat, the reason why it takes longer for our days to get warmer. But as our earth heats up, even the ocean has a limit on how much heat it can absorb.
Even if we stopped polluting the earth today, it will take a while to feel the difference in the climate. The fog and mist this early morning tell us that this day will be much warmer than yesterday. Silently, like the breath of God, they envelop us.
Prayer for the Day
Feeling the mist about us we wait for the sun to emerge,
Much as we wait for you to enter us and give us peace;
Looking to the day ahead we wonder what it will bring,
For we are often anxious in our uncertainty.
Ground us in your Presence, O God, mitigate our fears
So we are able to be instruments of your grace.
In the name of the One who shows us how to live,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Truth is the torch that gleams through the fog without dispelling it.
Claude-Adrien Helvetius, French philosopher (1715-1771)
Being closed in makes us edgy because it reminds us of our vulnerability before the elements; we can't escape the fact that life is precarious.
Kathleen Norris, from Dakota: A Spiritual Biography
Your ways, O Lord, inform me; your paths instruct me.
Lead me in your truth and instruct me, for you are the God of my rescue;
In you I hope every day.
Recall your mercies, O Lord, and your kindnesses – they are forever.
Psalm 25: 4-6 (Trans. Robert Alter)