Thoughts for the Day

You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the animals of the forest
come creeping out.
The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises, they withdraw
and lie down in their dens.....

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Rogation is one of my favourite times of the year - when we bless the planting of seeds and the appearance of new-born animals; when we ask God's blessings on the things of nature; and we ask His help for all involved in bringing to us our food. For me, God is the designer and technician of our whole world, whether you believe that He created the world in six days, or whether like me, you believe in Darwin and the origin of species. Either way it is God who designed the whole of creation, and He who allows us to be a part of this as stewards of His world.

Unfortunately, we are pretty poor stewards. We all know that we are destroying our world, but perhaps today we could make a couple of changes to our life. Here are some simple ideas:

• Turn running taps off and use less water.
• Turn the thermostat on your heating down a little, and use less fossil fuel.
• Make a conscious decision this week to walk or cycle somewhere and not use the car.
• Try to re-use plastic bags, and diminish your reliance on them in any way possible.
• Re-use and re-cycle all that you can, to cut down on what you throw away.
• Plant a tree, or more than one.

And finally we all need to confess our sin as poor stewards, and ask for God's help.

Lord God,
You created this beautiful world
of which we are stewards.
Forgive us our blindness and ignorance,
and our lack of desire to do anything
to stop the destruction of the earth.
Help each one of us to make real changes
to our lives to improve the situation,
and to teach others how to care for
the fragile eco-system we have inherited.
Amen.