Reflection: Sunday 1st August and for the week ahead:As your dawn renews the face of the earthbringing light and life to all creation,may we rejoice in this day you have made;as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep,open our eyes to behold your presenceand strengthen our hands to do your will,that the world may rejoice and give you praise. (After Lancelot Andrews. 1555-1626)These words were written some 400 years ago by the scholar, translator and bishop Lancelot Andrews, but are as meaningful and relevant as ever for us today. Each new day is a gift for which to thank God, and an opportunity to put our faith into practice, ‘that the world may rejoice and give him praise’. As we open our eyes to another new day may we know the presence of God with us in all that we do, and strengthened by that knowledge fulfil with contagious joy the tasks that lie before us. Revd Rosemary
Daily ScriptureBe patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You must also be patient. (James 5 7-8) Daily Reflection We sometimes want everything to happen at once - as soon as we have an idea or an opportunity presents itself, we want to jump straight in and take the bull by the horns! We launch headlong into a situation, only to find that, because of our impulsive actions, things do not turn out to be how we thought they would. Patience is a virtue, the farmer knows that he cannot hurry his crop, he plants the seed and then hands it over to Mother Nature to do the rest. We shouldn’t stop having ideas or making plans - but we should do it prayerfully - handing over our hopes and dreams and our worries to God and waiting patiently for His answer - which may or may not be in tune with our initial thoughts - only God knows. Lyn Hayes ALM
Daily ScriptureInto your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. (Psalm 31:5)Daily ReflectionThese words of the psalmist David convey his complete trust in God. Jesus used the same words, dying on the cross – showing his total dependence upon God. Stephen, the first martyr, spoken these words as he was stoned to death – confident that in death he was simply passing from God’s earthly care to his eternal care.At the end of our lives, we might have the courage to think (or we may hope this will happen), “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” But don’t leave it until then, we should trust God with everything, now, in this life! “Into your hands I commend……my family, my vocation, my possessions; all of my life.” This is the God of truth; you can trust Him with your whole life…..your spiritual life and your physical life; “Into your hands, God, I commend my life.” Revd David
Daily ScriptureDo not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters…. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbour? (James 4.11-12)Daily ReflectionIt is all too easy to condemn others. We do have to make judgments, about truth and falsehood, about wisdom and folly, about what is good and what is bad, but we do not have to, and we should not, pass judgment on one another.David Harmsworth
