Thoughts for the Day

Benedicite, verses 8-14

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

O ye Winds of God, bless ye the Lord :
praise him, and magnify him for ever.

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

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

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

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

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

(Lectionary, Common Worship, 2000)

Thoughts

Our second look at the Benedicite, the great hymn of adoration and praise, is concerned with the climate. It uses personification - as though the weather was a person - and calls the seasons to worship God. Part of the reason must also be to remind us to thank God for the different season, but I found myself thinking about incidents in my life, when I had complained about the weather. The winter of 1962/63 from the Boxing Day to March was the coldest winter for over 200 years in the UK. I was working in Bognor Regis and cycling the 5 miles to and from work. The snow was piled up to 20 feet in places after the snowploughs had broke through, and the buses flew by throwing the snow everywhere!. I definitely wasn't praising God for the weather!

Then there was the 20th July 1969. My husband and I were living in Cyprus, just before we returned after a three-year posting, to the UK. It was unbearably hot that year, so hot that we "shop-hopped" going from one cold drink to the next if we had to go shopping. It was, I seem to remember, in the very early hours of the morning when we lay in bed listening to the report on the radio (no tv then) listening to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they landed on the moon. It was very exciting, but the heat in the flat was unbearable, we could barely breathe. Ideally we could have sat on the balcony, but the radio would have woken others up, so we both suffered. That summer I definitely wasn't praising God for the weather!

How often do we thank God and praise him for the sun and rain, and for the wind, frost and snow? Do we more often complain as though it has been sent just to ruin our day?

Lord God,
we bless You for all aspects
of our weather,
and we ask Your forgiveness
for our part in helping
to damage our planet.
We thank You for the frost
that helps to bring about
the cycle of new growth;
the snow that protects spring plants;
the sun that warms our earth;
the rain that nourishes all creatures;
the wind that spreads the seeds,
and the fire that warms and feeds us.
May we never forget the positive benefits
of our world.
Amen.