Summer Solstice
Reflection
Today is the beginning of summer. In our hemisphere, earth is becoming its ripest and most lush. It is a time of deeper connection with the four basic elements: fire, water, air and earth. The fire of the sun reaches across 93 million miles to touch our skin, warm the soil, bless the growth of plants and ripen their fruit. Water joins with sunlight and earth to foster the growth of vegetation, the greenness of trees and the beauty of flowers. It cools us in waves, lakes, and ponds. We feel the air in the powerful winds of thunderstorms which join with water to moisten and refresh earth, or as it cools our skin with the touch of a gentle breeze. It’s summer! The elements are loose- sometimes to awe us with their beauty, other times to frighten us with their violence and power. Earth is busy turning the promise of springtime into the fullness of autumn. Our lives are moving with its rhythms. Let us appreciate the wonder of Earth.
Prayer
We praise you Holy Source of all Creation who blesses us with the changing of seasons and the wonders of your people, all living creatures, and our earth.
Action
Notice. Be aware. If possible, plan for time this summer to free yourself to be in touch with the beauty and bounty of this wonderful creation. Take time to enjoy!
Suggested Reading
The heavens declare the glory of God,
And the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.
Day pours out the word today,
And night to night imparts knowledge…
God has pitched a tent for the sun,
At one end of the heavens it comes forth,
And its course is to the other end.
Nothing escapes its heat.
Psalm 19
St. Francis] would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise. He communed with all creation, even preaching to the flowers, inviting them “to praise the Lord, just as if they were endowed with reason.
Pope Francis
What I know of the divine sciences and Holy Scriptures, I learned in woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.
Gertrude Jekyll
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
John Lubbock
Nature is the art of God.
Dante Alghieri
I am Summer, come to lure you away from your computer… come dance on my fresh grass, dig your toes into my beaches.
Oriana Green
Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
William Shakespeare
I stood transfixed, the silence ringing in my ears. From the field of wild grasses; cocksfoot, tufted hair, wild oat, tall fescue, reed canary and perennial rye, their subtle shades of green, ochre and pink softly patching and blending in rustling movement, suddenly rose a small flock of starlings that had been feeding quietly unseen among the tall waving stems, the swish of their glossy wings startlingly loud in the stillness of midday. Heat held me captive.
Nell Grey
I love how summer just wraps its arms around you like a warm blanket.
Kellie Elsmore
We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.
Jenny Uglow
I think it annoys God if you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice.
Alice Walker