This week marks the end of the school year for Oconee County schools. For many of us, summer vacation seems a dream of years ago – when we were children. But there is something to be said for a change of life rhythm that the beginning of summer offers. This beautiful poem by Ted Loder offers a glimpse into how this season might unfold for us. A season that he reflects on in Let Me Live Gracefully.
Thank you, Lord,
for this season
of sun and slow motion,
of games and porch sitting,
of picnics and light green fireflies
on heavy purple evenings;
and praise for slight breezes.
It’s good, God,
as the first long days of your creation.
Let this season be for me
a time of gathering together the pieces
into which my busyness has broken me.
O God, enable me now
to grow wise through reflection,
peaceful through the song of the cricket,
recreated through the laughter of play.
Most of all, Lord,
let me live easily and grace-fully for a spell,
so that I may see other souls deeply,
share in a silence unhurried,
listen to the sound of sunlight and shadows,
explore barefoot the land of forgotten dreams and shy hopes,
and find the right words to tell another who I am.
- Pastor Jane