Image: George Mendoza
Good morning, good God!
School's been out a week, Lord,
and the kids are off on summer vacation...
I remember such times,
50 years and more ago,
when summer had no horizon:
a time and place as close to heaven
as a young heart might imagine...
Something in a child’s summer joy
comes, I'm sure, a gift from you, O Lord:
a taste of timelessness,
a promise of perpetual play,
an eternity of sunny days
and a reign of endless joy...
Heaven every summer -- and every summer heaven!
Could the source of such a season
be any but divine?
But where'd those summers go, Lord?
Where'd they fly -- and will I find them once again?
And I wonder...
Do I still believe in summer's promise of pleasure
unending, unbending to calendars clocking each day,
walking away the weeks of warmth?
If I don't believe in summer, Lord,
can I believe in you or heaven
where summer's joys never end,
where summer's timeless stillness
calms with peace all other seasons' grief?
Where'd those summers go, Lord?
Where'd they flee -- and will I find them once again?
I wonder and I pray...
I offer you these months, Lord,
my heart's July and August days...
Come summer with me, Lord;
summer deep down in my soul;
restore my faith in summer’s time,
in rest, in joy, in play, in you...
Summer in my heart, Lord,
and dwell there as if time would never end,
as if all time were children's time, eternal time
when school is always out and joy is ever in…
And let others summer in my shade, Lord,
and share whatever summer’s peace is mine to give,
whatever summer’s light is mine to shed,
whatever summer's warmth is mine to share...
Good God of every season and every day this week,
come summer with me, Lord, and let the child in my heart
spend this summer in your love...
Amen.
post 2518
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Thank you for this morning's offering prayer. I've been privileged to spend a lot of these summer days with my 2 year granddaughter, who has renewed in me the love of creation - in trying to catch the birds and in feeding them, in running around in endless circles and up and down hills, and in taking the time to smell the flowers and watch lady bugs. Summer is more alive than ever!
ReplyDeleteThank you for today's reflection; as an urban teacher [in a high need school] I need summer to reconnect and recharge. Without summer I'd never be able to do what I need to do.
ReplyDeleteyou captured the essence of summer and childhood which all to often passes so quickly. It's a time of peace, renewal and endless opportunities. Heaven on earth.
ReplyDelete"And since all this loveliness cannot be Heaven,
ReplyDeleteI know in my heart is it June."
-- Abba Goold Woolson