From the UCC Network: 07/14/2011 "The Gifts of Summer" [cross-post]

The Gifts of Summer

Excerpt from Psalm 34: 

"O taste and see that God is good."

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

In recent years the summer has become the repository of my unfulfilled plans and dreams from the rest of the year.  During other seasons, I often say to myself, "In the summer I will have time to _____."  Fill in the blank:  De-clutter my desk.  Clear some rebellious brush in the backyard.  Paint the garage door.  Write that article.  Organize all those family photographs.  Read all of the books that are playing "king of the hill" on my bedside table.

Summer was made for such tasks, I suppose.  But as I make only the slowest headway through that to-do list, I have concluded that it was made for so much more.

Summer was given to us for high purposes, like tasting tomatoes that ripened on the vine.  It was made for getting salt water up your nose.

Summer is for lingering over the dinner table and sipping drinks that one would never touch in the winter.  It is for gathering with friends, instead of just exchanging e-mails with them.

Summer is for reminding us that the world goes on even when we are not productive.  It is for being, and not just doing.  It is a season to savor God's gifts, to "taste and see that God is good."

A sage parishioner once said to me, "By the time we get to the Fourth of July, the summer is half over."  So it is time to ask:  How is your summer going?

Or perhaps I should put it this way:  How is your savoring going?

Prayer

God, I praise you for the gifts of summer.  Help me to receive them with a grateful heart.  Truly, you are the best. Amen.

About the Author Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Lillian Daniel, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.