Midsummer

by Rev Cliff Reed

taken from his book Beyond Darkness: Words for Reflection

Long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green … it was a midsummer’s morning as fair and fresh as could be dreamed: blue sky and never a cloud, and the sun dancing on the water.

J.R.R. TOLKIEN

We greet midsummer –

the dream of endless days and short warm nights,

when our ancestors danced in honour of the sun

and the season’s triumph.

There was gladness then beneath blue skies,

hope of plenty as crops grew and ripened in the fields,

food for people and their animals; when there were

feasting and festival to mark the sacred time.

We live too far apart from the turning seasons,

the earth’s rhythms and nature’s lessons.

We forget our dependence on the plenty

that we take for granted – few of us plant the seed,

watch growth and ripening, reap the harvest.

At midsummer may we open our eyes

to the same life-giving beauty

that our ancestors knew,

our spirits to the call to cherish it,

our minds to the knowledge

of our reliance on earth’s bounty.

At midsummer let’s celebrate!