Daily Devotion 21 August 2020

Create a peaceful space to pause, and allow yourself to feel God’s presence alongside you, as near to you as your own breath. In following the reflection below, as a church we will draw closer to God and to one another as we grow in faith and deepen our sense of belonging to God.

Psalm 104: 24, 31-33 ‘Praising the God of All Creation’

24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works –
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

Some years ago I visited a fascinating small island off the coast of Brittany, where every year gannets come to breed. They come in such huge numbers that the island looks white, even at a distance of five miles. The breeding season is the only time you see gannets on land as the rest of the time they spend in the air, on the sea or on off-shore rocks. Every winter they migrate and their migratory paths go in several different directions – to the Mediterranean, Greenland, and West Africa.

Gannets mate for life and go back each year to the same spot on their nesting island, which may be off a remote coast of the UK, France or elsewhere in Europe. When the time comes to migrate, the pair separate – one may go to Greenland and the other to the Mediterranean, yet the next year the two will meet again on exactly the same spot of their particular island. And the fledglings will also disperse in different directions yet return the following year.

What an amazing world God has created! And how wonderful to know that his love extends to all his creation. Jesus tells us that not a single sparrow is overlooked by God; and as for us even the hairs of our head have been counted.

No wonder we want to say, in the words of the Psalmist, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being”.

Prayer:

Creator God, we glimpse your beauty
in setting sun, mountain top, eagle’s wing.
We sense your power in thunder crash,
lightning flash and ocean’s roar.
Creator God we praise you.

Precious Jesus, we see your love
stretched out upon a cruel cross.
We stand in awe at your sacrifice ,
pure love poured out for humankind.
Precious Jesus we praise you.

Holy Spirit, we see your power
in lives transformed, hearts on fire.
We listen for your still, small voice,
comforting, guiding, calling.
Holy Spirit we praise you.

Light of light, Lord of Lords,
God of this world and the next,
we give you thanks.

For the promise of this day,
for the challenge of this day,
for the blessings of this day.
We give you thanks.

Light of light, Lord of Lords,
God of this world and the next,
we give you thanks. Amen

Reflection © 2020 Ann Caffyn.
Image freely available online.
Prayer from Faith and Worship, freely available online.

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All material within this order of worship is reproduced by permission under CCL 1226356