Thought for the day - Monday 5 October

Thought for the Day – Monday 5th October ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.’ (Psalm 19: 1-4) I woke up the other morning, opened the blinds and found myself reciting Keats’ poem ‘Ode to Autumn’ - I know it might seem odd but I think it was being surrounded by the first autumn mists which sent me into all that ‘seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulnes’ malarkey! Later in the day I was at it again – lost in the words of the poem once more at the sight of all the brambles ripening in the hedgerows and that took me back to wonderful autumn days spent gathering brambles with my Papa and proudly taking home basketsful for my Nana to make into Bramble Jelly! Even to this day I can see the Jelly Bag dripping away in the cool larder and smell those brambles and feel the longing inside for a taste of that newly made Bramble Jelly! ‘Nature is indeed wonderful!’ The changing of the seasons and all the delights that brings, the awesomeness of a starry sky, the sun glinting on the sea, the warmth of the sun on your skin or the wind in your hair (if you have any!) or the cold on your cheeks, the warbling of the birds, the scent of flowers, a moonlit night or a misty day each and every aspect of nature speaking so powerfully of God’s creation, of his wonder, of his splendour and of his constant presence in the world around us. All of this belongs to God, and all of this is what we need to be giving thanks to God for each and every day, all of this we need to appreciate as much as we can and as the tenants of his kingdom today, take great care of – indeed we could go so far as to say it is our duty as Christians to safeguard all of nature and the world God has given us and not just for us today but for future generations too and doing so is central to our faithful discipleship. There is so much of nature for us to enjoy throughout the year so let us make sure we are not like those wicked tenants who forgot whose land they were caring for, let’s be good stewards of God’s creation in order to ensure that there is still so much of nature for others to enjoy in years to come. Prayer Loving Lord, The heavens are telling the glory of God, may our love of God and our worship of God also reflect God’s glory. The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork, may we see nature and each other as the handiwork of God and in fulfilment of our faithful discipleship as we try to be good stewards of God’s creation may our caring project the love of God to all. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.