June 24th
Psalm 104 v 14
He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth
I have been helping to clear an allotment of all the rubbish dumped on it.
As I read the above verse I think before good things can grow and we can plant, the ground must be prepared.
I have collected bags and bags of rubbish that need to go to the tip, which I visited today.
It took 1½ hours in the queue before I got to the actual tip. When I was emptying the bags into the crusher, I had the thought that I am so thankful that there is no queue to wait to see God before I can tip out all the internal rubbish in my life and in my thoughts.
As I watched the rubbish, that had been stopping any plants from growing on the land, go into the crusher I thanked Jesus that He does not treat us as our sins deserve; and God has promised that He will not crush us, and a bruised reed He will not break; and I wondered why we wait so long to bring our rubbish to him, where we don’t have to wait, or to queue, or keep a 2 metre distance or wear a mask, and He is never shut or closed.
If we give him our rubbish, our mistakes and messes, then the soil of our lives can produce crops and fruit that God plants and creates and cultivates. I am thankful
Ordinary Time, can it be?
Thousands dead,
Masks covering faces and fear,
Children stopped in play,
Distances kept,
Church bells silent.
But it is still God’s time.
Lifting hope heavenward,
Blessing the help from every hand,
Recharging praying lips,
The ever presence of Divine love.
Always God’s time.
Keeping alive His Holy Flame,
Stirring hearts with Good News,
Spreading true love across the World,
Now and into Eternity.
© Helen McNichol June 2020
June 12th
Creation
We hear the words:
Keep your distance, keep your distance.
But our Triune God is saying,
“Come Closer, Come Closer”.
We must listen to His calling,
see His image in Creation,
letting His World vibrate
through our hearts and souls.
Encased within His constant
Love and Care.
Feel the wonder of the sky above us.
a vision of God’s greatness,
an ever-changing backdrop,
with an array of many colours.
Clouds to test our weather people.
A platform for the birds,
to swoop and glide in blissful freedom.
Each day a touch of God’s mystery.
At the breaking of the day,
and the closing in of night.
With stars and moon to lead the way,
His promise of day and night.
Often a scene of our dreams,
and a longing for eternity.
Oceans move around our land
flavoured with the salt
of Holy wisdom,
a cleansing for our souls.
Home for a thousand, thousand
gifts from God.
Sometimes waves lap gently
stilling the soul,
or crashing storms pounding the rocks,
like the power of the Holy Spirit.
Oceans are fed by rivers large and small,
God’s life-blood for the world,
filling arteries of all creatures and plants,
sustaining life and growth.
Embracing Earth with colour,
aroma, purpose and love.
God you are the fulcrum of all life.
Help us to come ever closer
to your unbounded Gift,
nurturing it with healing hands
and God-driven listening souls.
© Helen McNichol June 2020
June 11th
Psalm 23v4
When there’s
Incessant irritation, incurable illness, or isolation, when
Nights of nonsensical notions nudge and seem never-ending, we
Tire and tread the tumult with thundering terror, as if
Obligated.
But
Tending a new timely thought can become a turning point.
Heavens help and honesty, heaves humanity out of hell. There is an
Encourager, an essential eternal energy which eases the effort, by exposing and excluding evil.
Listening to this light, our life can be full of love.
Inward instinct identifies with this illumination. We
Glimpse glory, grasp a germ seed of grace and grow. In my
Heart, I hope for this harmony throughout humankind where
Triumph over tumult is touched like treasure and trusted as truth.
Frances
June 1st
God’s World
Inspired by Psalm 104
In my head I hear His voice
“Look at the wonders I created”
Rest, breathe, my Spirit is here with you.
Birds sing of God’s bounty, sheltered from the wind; hopping along the lush borders of silver green, ever watchful.
Beyond the holly hedge the sheep, constantly grazing, respond to the ever-present bleat of lambs calling them to succour.
Rest, breathe, my Spirit is here with you.
Flashes of sapphire from water tumbling over rock; bubbles in a tranquil pool where a robin drinks perched on the very edge
Golden carp undulating below the lilies in crystal water surface.
The screech of a peacock disturbs the calm.
Rest, breathe my Spirit is here with you.
Children shout, call, shriek in joyful play.
A mower buzzes far, far away and nearer still the bees.
The scrunch of gravel beneath an arbour; where the smell of damp earth mingles with light, fragrant scents from the fallen petals: crimson, scarlet and rose lie with a sprinkling of pine needles.
The warmth, glories and colours of the world.
All of these touching the senses as I listen
Rest, breathe Rejoice! For my Spirit is here with you.
Thought for The Day
During the lockdown many of us are working in our gardens, tidying and planting. I’m sure this work is still going on in church grounds throughout the land too.
I hope we can all feel God in our lives during this time of confinement during which many of us are going through hours of solitude…….time alone when gardening too and it occurred to me whilst toiling in the garden, Jesus is a gardener, a gardener of our souls.
He plants the seed of our faith, waters and feeds us thus nourishing us through his teachings, he even prunes our souls if we go astray, then rejoices in watching us bloom into Christian people and just like all flora every one of us is unique and special to him.
I hope this helps to make gardening less arduous for you, knowing that what you are doing for your garden Jesus is doing for you!
Happy Gardening!
Scarlett Hemming