A Prayer for July

Monday July 5 2021

 

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Praise be for the second month*
when the year turns and the world waits
and Scotland’s skittish summer warms us well

Praise below for
Hedgerows, harebell and willowherb
Colourific colonisers of the countryside

Praise above for
Sand-martins, swifts and swallows
tapsalteerie** tourists from southern terrains

Praise bee for
the buzzing and busking of blooms
contributors to the complexity of ecosystems

And all for your glory

Mercy and grace for
wanton wastefulness, withered landscapes
devastation, desperation, and death

Mercy and grace for
moneyed madness, marred lives
tawdry riches, rapacious robbers of the poor

Mercy and grace for
thoughtless tyrannisers, trumpeting their travesties
warring factions fostering fear and splintering families

And all for your forgiveness

Faith and hope for
a fruitful plentiful planet for all
perfectly balanced for bees and birds

Faith and hope for
a fair sharing for all
radical rethinking of resources

Faith and hope for
a peaceful place for all
safety, security, somewhere to call home

And all for your love

Praise be!

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*July is considered to be the second month of summer or winter depending on the hemisphere to which it belongs.

**Tapsalteerie: Scots word for topsy turvy, all over the place.

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This prayer first appeared in July's Life and Work. Order, download or subscribe here.