Late Summer Contemplations from The Rector

Friday 26th August 2022

As I write this parts of the south of England are under a hosepipe ban due to the perhaps ‘unseasonable’ and unusually protracted sunny weather! Climate scientists predict that the temperature of our summers are only likely to increase and instead of being unusual will become increasingly the norm – good news for ‘sun worshippers’ but perhaps less welcomed by those who suffer due to excessive heat. And behind it all, none of us should ignore the more sinister matter that the planet is warming up, which has potential catastrophic implications for us all.

This time of the year however remains one of my favourites; ignore the fact that travelling is usually a chore, that our roads get congested with visitors, and our beaches and ‘hot-spots’ are best avoided- for a few more weeks at least! Walking through this glorious part of rural Cornwall is nothing if not to be made alive to the sights and sounds of our magnificent countryside; fields dotted with bales of hay, hedgerows and byways burgeoning with full bloom and teaming hives of activity as birds, bees, and insects of every description move to the imperceptible beat of mother nature! September of course ushers in the rapid fading of the evening light, the first hint of red upon the chestnut tree, and the crisper air at first light of dawn is a reminder that autumn is almost here!

I know that change can be as challenging for some as it can be exhilarating for others, the arrival of autumn invites us to pause and consider that change is ever about us and always with us, and we can either stand in terror of it or give thanks for all the new blessings we might find in it! With that in mind, let us give thanks for the autumn:

Thank you for the still quiet woods of Autumn,

carpets of shed acorns crunching under foot,

mushrooms newly grown since yesterday,

squatting among the gently shifting mosaic of fallen leaves.

For brown fields turned golden by the setting sun,

the cautious stare and stamping hooves of wary sheep,

the dapper magpie's raucous laughing cry.

For hedgerows decorated purple, crimson, pink,

by berries of bramble, bryony, and spindle,

clusters of fluffy seeds released by willow herbs.

For all that has been grown, created and achieved this year,

as life settles to see out the winter’s cold and storms,

and waits to breakout in new glories next year.

(Poem by Brian Ford)

Your Friend

Revd Paul