by Sarah Brock
Today’s Readings:
AM Psalm 89:1-18 PM 89:19-52
1 Samuel 5:1-12; Acts 5:12-26
What are the signs of summer in your community?
Do you notice the absence of college students in your favorite coffee shop or on public transportation? Or, perhaps, you notice the lack of school buses on your morning commute. Are there more people spending evenings outside- enjoying parks, porch concerts, or simply taking advantage of the last light stretching later into the evening? Maybe you notice the transition of plants growing, spring crops and flowers past as the summer growth is underway or the change of produce available at the local supermarket.
Do you notice?
The crickets singing in the grass, the fireflies twinkling in the bushes, the scent of pool chlorine or a neighbors grill or wet dog as you get splattered with water.
What are the signs that God is near in your community?
Do you notice the kid mowing the lawn of an elderly neighbor? Or, perhaps, you notice the friendly greeting of a porch sitter as you pass by. Are there chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers, and stories shared around an evening campfire? Maybe you notice the community that gathers to help as someone moves in or moves out.
Do you notice?
The joy inspired by the bell of the ice cream truck, the love passed in a casserole in hard times, the offering of a cup of coffee or a hug or a helping hand
What are the signs that the kingdom of God is near in your community?
Do you notice the ways social justice is fought for in your neighborhood? Perhaps, you notice the flourishing of a food pantry or community center. Are there ways you are or can be involved in helping someone? Maybe you are making the kingdom present by accepting help offered.
Do you notice?
The places in your community where there seems to be a thinness between you and God, the places where you feel the presence of God’s kingdom, the places where Love breaks through into your life.
Wherever you may be, whoever you may be, whatever you are becoming,
take a moment to notice.
Take a moment to participate in bringing about the kingdom of God.
Take a moment to rest in God.
Take a moment to savor the arrival of summer.
Sarah Brock is a postulant in the Diocese of Massachusetts and lives in Boston.
Image Credit: My own.