Summer is a ‘time between times’, particularly if we have young people in our community. It’s a time of rest, a different kind of rest to that of winter where we focus on building a store of energy for the year to come. Summer is a time to release and rest, to step away from the drive to produce and create. It is a time to enjoy all that spring has promised, the flowers and fruit of the earth’s labour. It is a time spend with family, to share new experiences and the simple pleasures of being together.
As we enter this season we offer you and your communities a short prayer:
Summer is here Lord, still our hearts and minds, help us to breathe deeply and experience all that you have given us so far this year.
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Help us to recognise the good things which have grown around us, those things which not along ago were simply seeds, ideas and possibilities.
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Help us to notice the new relationships, the friendships that have blossomed, the richness of community and the joy of simply being with each other.
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Help us to let go, relax and let things be what they need to be, as we know that you will nurture them as you nurture us.
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Help us to slow down and resist the pressure to produce, to release the guilt that often comes with stopping and doing nothing, to value the small and fragile things with joy.
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Help us to value and care for this planet with which we are blessed, it’s climate, the ground on which we walk, the seas which we might cross, the life on its surface, in it’s oceans and the air.
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Bless our travels and our rest, our families and friends, those we spend time with this summer and those we will miss. Bless the things we will let go of and the new things we will experience. Bless our earth and all that lives, grows and moves around us. May we feel the warmth of your love and the light of your grace as we stop doing and allow ourselves simply to be.