A snail’s shell

Jo Penn March 17, 2022 0 2

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Psalm 136: 1-9 (NRSVA)

1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever.
2 O give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever.
3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever;

4 who alone does great wonders,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever;
5 who by understanding made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever;
6 who spread out the earth on the waters,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever;
7 who made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever;

Soon British Summer Time will begin when we put the clocks forward by one hour. In the UK we have the privilege of seeing, through the passage of daylight in our landscape, the effect of the year’s movement of Sun and Moon in relation to the earth as the timings of our dawn and dusk vary considerably through the year. Those living on the equator receive equal amounts of day and night throughout the year.

In ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owens, Kya is a young girl who grows into adulthood whilst living alone in the marshes of North Carolina. She has received enough education to be able to read books left by her mother in the house, and she learns to live with the marshland, observing its rhythm and seasons, and painting what she finds – delicate pictures of the beautiful creatures she lives amongst.

These past two years have afforded me the opportunity to watch the woodland and Dale through the seasons. Last Autumn I took photographs of many different types of Fungi which I had never noticed before, a fallen leaf, a snail’s shell.

In this season of uncertainty, worry and political posturing, where are you looking to give signs of God’s stability and care? Is it to the pinnacles of knowledge, the experts, the scientists, the politicians or is it to the rhythms of the earth – the seasons, the migrations, the daily rising and setting of sun, the body’s own clock for being asleep and awake, the drum of your heartbeat?

PRAYER:

Lord God,

Thank you for the revelation of Your Love shown through the intricate dependencies within Creation around us.

Thank you for the joyful sight of the colours in the plumage of birds, the sound of water in all its moods, the creatures of all kinds that inhabit the land, the plants that grow.

Thank you for food and resources harvested from this land which bring us life. Help us to look for ways to be more responsible in what we consume, to be the good stewards you call us to be.