Longer Days

Longer Days post thumbnail image

The days are growing longer now, as the sun continues to stay overhead later into the evening and waken earlier each morning.  When I rise from bed, I can already see the blush of dawn and the sky is starting to lighten.  I could consult the newspaper and identify the exact difference each day’s length will be, but I prefer to discover the additional light myself, through my own experience.  The numbers may predict the hours of light, but it is God who causes the sun to shine, the moon to light the night, and the world to move at his ordering.  I thank you, Lord, for the daylight hours of work and play and for the night of peace and rest.  You have given us a world of order and stability whose regularity is a sign of your love, your creation, your power, and your glory. Amen.

Related Post

God’s GraceGod’s Grace

The island is awash in wild flowers now, splashes of color line the road, displaying their palette even in the piney woods on the bay.  No one plants these seeds, no one tends them; they must endure drought and cold, surviving intense heat and salt spray, super-heated summer winds.  They are a gift, these lovely flowers, a gift given freely and generously.  I think of them as a reminder of God’s grace, free for the taking, available to all, a gift that exists under the most severe and extreme conditions, outlasting any other gift possibly conceived.  Thank you, Lord, for these blooms that sweeten my days, and thank you for the gift of your grace that promises me an eternity shared with you. Amen.

SharingSharing

A new house is being built on the lot beside me.   The men work and call to one another, play their loud music, and operate their noisy machines.  I miss the peace and quiet I once knew, and feel cranky at the intrusion.  Then I realize I share this world and this island. Perhaps in a similar fashion I sometimes I want you all to myself, so I alone have your attention and favor, so you and I are our own island.  Forgive me.  Help me to know that it is only in sharing you that your will is done.  Help me to welcome others and make me less greedy for what is not mine alone.  You are the God of all.  Forgive me for trying to own you; make me an instrument to bring others to the knowledge of you.  It is only in sharing you that I truly won your love. Amen.

Thinking Through TrashThinking Through Trash

This week’s rough wind and waves have torn piles of sea grapes and left them strewn on the shore. I picked my way along their drying heaps thinking of how unattractively they litter the beach. Then I noticed shore birds pecking through the sea grapes, finding bits of food among the tangled leaves and stems. I’m surprised to see so much bounty being discovered, and I’m led to wonder about the litter in my life—what can it be made to yield? Often it has been a crisis that tempered my judgment and brought me closer to God. I spent six months in a body cast, confined to a hospital bed, and learned more from that experience than any university course or self-help book. My father’s early death taught me about faith and forgiveness and the importance of living each moment. Maybe I need to re-examine the detritus of my own life more carefully, identifying the nourishing insights it might produce. Please help me, Father, to see your hand in everything that happens; may I use my life in accordance with your will and in your service. Amen.