Thoughts for the Day

O let the Earth bless the Lord:
yea, let it praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Mountains and Hills, bless ye the Lord:
praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O all ye Green Things upon the Earth, bless ye the Lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.

O ye Wells, bless ye the Lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.

O ye Seas and Floods, bless ye the Lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.

O ye Whales, and all that move in the Waters, bless ye the Lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.

O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.

O all ye Beasts, and Cattle, bless ye the Lord:
praise him and magnify him for ever.

(Lectionary, Book of Common Prayer)

Thoughts

I got up early to see the sun rise and stepped outside the small hotel. It had been pitch dark the night before and I had seen nothing of the area, except to notice that we were in a town somewhere south of Jerusalem. In the grey light I couldn't see how it was going to be possible to see any desert, but the the man on reception assured me I had just to walk "a little that way" and he pointed to the left. I ventured outside. It looked like an ordinary town street, but I obeyed his instructions. To my shock the houses stopped almost immediately and all I could see was barren brown-ginger coloured rocks rising quickly to craggy mountains as far as the eye could see. No blade of grass or pathway appeared, the town just stopped right there! The sunrise was amazing, but it was the first sight of the Judean wilderness that really took my breath away.

The writer of the Benedicite knew this land intimately. The Judean desert is about 52 miles (85 km) long and about 15.5 miles (25 km) wide, running north to south parallel to to the Dead Sea. Its driest areas receive virtually no rain. In the north there is Qumran the site of the community that created the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the south is Masada where the Jews held out on their rocky mountain against the Roman Army before committing mass suicide. This desert lies alongside the well known biblical towns of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Beersheba. It is the place that people like David went when fleeing for his life, and where John the Baptist and Jesus experienced desert life, and where many early Christian monasteries were established and where their ruins still lie.

This is the land and its memories that Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel took with them to Babylon that shaped these young men and which frame the Benedicite.

Heavenly Father,
we praise and bless You
for Your great plan to call a small tribe,
to become Your people.
Led by Patriarchs and Prophets they struggled,
but each generation called forth new men and women
who sought to follow Your commandments.
When You sent Your Son,
the faithful followed Him taking the Gospel to Gentiles.
May we never forget our spiritual inheritance
as we cope with the challenges of the 21st century.
Amen.