14th. September 2020. Daily Devotion
9th September 2020 A Candle in the Window Peter Millar
Words to encourage us in tough times. ionacottage@hotmail.com
We shall not cease from exploration
And at the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. T.S. Eliot
No matter how far the town is, there is always another beyond it.
words from the Fulani peoples.
A proclamation of goodness:
O Christ, there is no plant in the ground, but it is full of your virtue.
There is no form in the strand, but it is full of your blessing.
There is no life in the sea, there is no creature in the ocean,
There is nothing in the heavens
BUT PROCLAIMS YOUR GOODNESS!
There is no bird on the wing,
There is no star in the sky,
There is nothing beneath the sun
BUT PROCLAIMS YOUR GOODNESS! (A Celtic prayer)
The joy of being in it together:
At the end of our road is a residential complex for Asian elders who walk their slow way up and down the street. At the front of our house is a low garden wall which women and men from the complex use as a resting place, especially on warmer days. We started to offer them water, then conversation began, names were exchanged, and then gifts of fruit and flowers brought to our door. We began to clean up the wall and painted it. Soon it was the most important part of the garden: an international meeting place bathed in the sounds of laughter!
Words written by a friend Ron Smith.
The ever-changing nature of life on Earth:
It could be said that we live in an age of the dinosaurs. It is, of course, 66 million year since a great extinction wiped out three quarters of the animals on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs. The first fossil was described in scientific literature around two centuries ago. In the last 25 years, the pace of palaeontological discoveries has accelerated to dizzying speed. Over the last five years, a new dinosaur has been identified every week on average – including, this month, a theropod from the Isle of Wight, already nicknamed Dinosaur Island thanks to the haul of treasures from its shores. Though the bulk of the new species come from China, Mongolia, Argentina and the United States, the new theropod demonstrates that striking finds are being made all over the world. They range from crow-sized creatures to giants more than 30 metres long.
The work of the last two-and-a-half decades – from the discovery of feathered dinosaurs in China – suggests that these animals were smarter, more diverse, more interesting and important than we realised. They thrived for 150 million years; modern humans are closer in time to T-rex and triceratops than these creatures were to the stegosaurus. They are the ancestors of animals including birds, our modern-day dinosaurs. We might take a humble interest in their ability to survive and adapt through dramatic climate and environmental change. They seem, perhaps, especially appealing now. The pandemic has left us in what feels like an endless present; our lives feel suddenly smaller. Dinosaur discoveries are an inspiring glimpse of the broadest temporal horizons, allowing us to contemplate the rich, complex and ever-changing nature of life on Earth. From an article in the Guardian
And from Psalm 8:
O God, how we have maligned and misinterpreted You – placing ourselves above all creation, commandeering the helm that we might control and use for our own comfort and convenience. Forgive us, and restore us to our senses, that we might see and sense and know and love all that is and all that can be. May our reverence for You be manifest in our reverence for all of life. May our wakeful listening penetrate the earth and reach towards the heavens. May our bold tenderness overcome our ignorance and enable wise action. For this life is a wonder. You have gifted us with all we need – beauty and bounty, word and wisdom, courage and companionship. From Carla A. Grosch-Miller, Psalms Redux: poems and prayers. Canterbury Press. ISBN 978-1-84825-639-2
