July 2018

A PARABLE FOR JULY

 “... a Sower went forth to sow...”

I will tell you a parable ....

It was 6.43 a.m. and a Mother

went out to throw broken bread

upon the  grass in the early  morning.

Snow white Gulls flew through the air

and gathered some bread in their beaks

and flew away....

Then came the Crows and Magpies

who landed on the ground.

Some ate eagerly whilst others filled their beaks,

which they dipped in the nearby pond,

or  into water bowls, and then flew off

to feed their young.

A small young fox appeared

and hungrily ate the bread.

Having had his fill, he left the garden

through a hole in the hedge.

Then came the blackbirds, sparrows, dunnocks,

finches, and all manner of small birds

who ate their fill from the remnants.

Some were accompanied by their young,

whom they fed

before flying away together.

 

All were satisfied.

The sun shone, the big cat slept.

All things were well.

*

Observed by Sister Christopher OSB

  

 Friday 6th July

The heat wave continues and most of us

are perspiring (or sweating)

when we move around both indoors

and out of doors !

My memories of summers in Italy

   continue to surface

during this relentless heat.

*

White butterflies are fluttering around

in the garden.

The exposed soil is cracked.

A soft wind sways the lower banches of trees,

providing us with a sense of coolness -

which soon disappears -

when we become aware again

that our clothes are damp !

*

 At our Morning Office today,

Saturday 7th July,

we recited part of the following Canticle

from Ben Sirach 42:15-23

Sirach 42: 15-23.

I will now call to mind the works of the Lord,

and tell of what I have seen.

 

By the words of the Lord his works come into being

and all creation obeys his will.

 

As the sun in shining looks on all things,

so the work of the Lord is full of his glory.

 

The Lord has not granted even to his angels

to recount all his marvellous works,

 

those things which the Lord Almighty has established,

that the universe may stand firm in his glory ...

 

Nothing can be added to him, nothing taken away...

 

How desirable are all his works

how dazzling to the eye !

They all live and endure for ever.

*

Sunday 8th July

The weather remains extremely hot.

Even our cat Brunie does not venture outside

but seeks shade in rooms in which

the curtains are drawn ....

*

I went out soon after 5.0 a.m. after the herring gulls

had summoned me with raucous cries.

It was cooler then but the day became extremely hot.

The weeded garden soil

remains cracked and parched.

*

 

A visiting heron from the River Dee

 

11th July

Feast of S.Benedict

ABBOT, PATRON OF EUROPE

 

A reading from the book of Proverbs

 

My son, if you take my words to heart,

if you set store by my commandments,

turning your ear to wisdom,

and applying your heart to truth:

yes, if you cry out for discernment,

if you look for it as if it were silver,

and search for it as for buried treasure,

you will then understand what the fear of the Lord is,

and discover the knowledge of God.

For the Lord himself is the giver of wisdom,

from his mouth issue knowledge and discernment.

He keeps his help for honest men,

he is the shield of those whose ways are honourable;

he stands guard over the paths of justice,

he keeps watch on the way of his devoted ones.

Then you will understand what virtue is,

justice and fair dealing,

all paths that lead to happiness.

*

 

Statue of Saint Benedict

*

 Friday 13th July

After several weeks of relentless sunshine

we awoke to the sound of RAIN ....

Humidity prevails, but the earth is being watered.

This is a true blessing as a ban on

the use of hose-pipes has not yet been decreed.

 The Lord of Creation has, once again,

come to our rescue.

 

The birds’ bread - which I prepared last  night -

 is now  being softened by the generous rain.

ALLELUIA

*

20th July

 

Postcard from the Holy Island

of Lindisfarne.

 

The sun has never stopped shining.

We arrived, as always, by the Pilgrims’ Causeway.

Barefoot, you follow the line of the weathered poles

marking the safe crossing from the mainland

to the  island - three miles of sand, mud

 and sun-warmed shallows,

with the great North Sea waiting

to roll back over the causeway,

like the red Sea released from command.

The first thing to greet us

was the lime-green eel grass forming

 lovely soft carpets underfoot....

 

From GLIMPSES OF EDEN

 by Jonathan Tulloch

*

This lovely text does not reflect our weather here !

 

 

22nd July

The days are becoming shorter

and the early morning bird chorus

no longer awakens us.

*

Our garden benefited from the much needed rainfall.

The trees swayed in the wind, and leaves fell

to the ground.

Then the black-headed gulls returned

and the herring gulls - larger than ducks -

fended them off  - for a while  - in the early morning.

*

Humidity prevails for now,

WE LONG FOR RAIN

and cooler days.

*

Ingathering