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Reverend Paul Collings BTh (Hons) - - - - paul.collings@methodist.org.uk - - - - 01392 206229 - - - - 07941 880768

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Tuesday 6 June 2023

Blessings of Summer


We can take the changes of the seasons for granted, can’t we. In our hurried world we perhaps fail to stop and stare just like William Henry Davies poem Leisure.

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.


The psalmist is often found purposefully standing and staring and acknowledging our creator God in the present moment. In Psalm 74:16-17 we read, “The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon.  It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.”


Take a moment today whether the sun shines or arrives in liquid form to quietly use this prayer and stand and stare.


God, we thank You for turning the earth toward the Sun .
We thank You for summer.

As the days and the light are long,

So is the Love of God:
   Endless,
   Fruitful,
   Full of possibility,
   Bursting with energy.


As growing things are awake and progressing,
So may we become awake
To Your light and to Your love:
   Making progress,
   Seizing opportunities to grow,
   Readying for harvest


As our plot on the planet faces the sun, our star,
So do we turn ourselves toward the Son
Following the Way of Christ,
Following the Way of Love,
Growing to maturity,
Spreading seeds of Good News to all.


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