Thought for Friday, 12 May 2023

 Psalm 19:1-3

The heavens tell the glory of God.  The skies display his marvellous

craftmanship.  Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.  They speak without a sound or a word; there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Maybe I’m just getting cranky (some might say crankier) as I get older but one of the things that really frustrates me is seeing more and more people, young and old, with their faces buried in their phones or tablets.  The countryside is particularly green and beautiful at the moment and yet every day I see folks walking on their own, walking their dog, walking with friends, heads down, focused on their phone, either reading something on it or talking to someone (a person on the end of yet another phone) with an apparent disregard for the beauty of creation that is all around them and also for the friends, if any, that are with them.  I make no apologies for probably having mentioned this topic previously. 

An acquaintance told me he was on a foreign trip recently and part of this involved a trip to a historic city in Europe.  When most of the tourists on the trip he was on arrived at this city, their priority was not to see the various sights in that city, it was to find a café or bar that had wi-fi so they could reconnect with the internet and get back on their phones again!!!!!  Would they not have been better saving the cost of their holiday and just staying at home? 

How many times have you been at a restaurant and noticed young couples out for a meal together not exchanging one word in communication but staring into the tiny screens of the phones in their hands.  It makes me wonder if future generations will eventually lose the art of conversation altogether. 

The Psalmist says that the heavens tell the glory of God and display his marvellous craftmanship and that they continue to speak to make him known to us.  He tells us that there is no language barrier, we just need to look and understand but if we don’t look, no matter what country we are from, we will never understand.  Similarly with the gospel message, it is there and available to us but we need to look for it before we can ever begin to understand what it can mean to us. 

One observer when asked ‘how did you persuade your child to read instead of playing with smart devices?’, she said: ‘children don’t hear us, they imitate us.’ 

Prayer – Your work, Heavenly Father, is glorious.  You light up the sunrise, and spread out the sunset.  You place the distant stars throughout the universe, and kindle the sun to warm the earth.  There is no work as wonderful as yours, Lord.  Nothing on earth compares with your craftsmanship.  When I look into the heavens and see the splendour of Your handiwork and the glories of Your creative power, I am moved to proclaim Your glory and to declare the wonderful works of Your mighty hand.