Unanticipated Gifts

Dear friends,

I'd like to share with you a lovely version of Psalm 104. Judy Lhamon sent it to me earlier in the week without knowing how deeply it would touch me. You see, watching "birds build their nests" and "storks [osprey?] make their dwellings" has been my joy and salvation amidst uncertainty and chaos.

I am also grateful to Judy for encouraging me to celebrate Earth Day on this, its 50th anniversary. One of the unanticipated gifts of the covid-19 pandemic is that the inhabitants of the world's major cities, including Hong Kong, Paris, and Los Angeles, are breathing fresh air for the first time in decades. As we live into the "new normal," let us pray that it includes a reverence for " this fragile Earth, our Island home."

Psalm 104:17-25 (St Helena Psalter)

17 The Trees of the Holy One are full of sap, The cedars of Lebanon which God planted,
18 in which the birds build their nests, and in which who's tops the storks make their dwellings.
19 The high hills are a refuge for the mountain goats, and the stony cliffs for the rock badgers.
20 You appointed the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows the time of its setting.
21 You make darkness that it may be night, in which all of the beasts of the forest prowl.
22 The lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.
23 The sun rises, and they slip away and lay themselves down in their dens.
24 We go forth to our work and to our labor until the evening.
25 O Holy One, how manifold are your works; in wisdom you have made them all; the Earth is full of your creatures.
36 Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the wicked be no more.
 37  Bless the Holy One, o my soul. Alleluia.

In last week's reflection I expressed gratitude that so many of you have been pressuring me :) to create a way to support the parish online. I said to you: " we are working on it, and hope to have a 'donate button' in place within a week or two." Well, from my lips (or perhaps keyboard) to God's ears, with assistance from Nate Solberg and Brianna Jewell who have been hard at work refreshing our website. So just for fun, go to www.stpaulstjames.org and check it out!