[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Monday, August 25, 2014

[Paul]

Hello and good day to my fellow cyber readers out there, no matter where you live.  I hope that you are all doing well as you are reading or listening to this, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

A person with the unique name of Lansing Christian contributed today's article which most of you read last year at about this time, although some haven't because they weren't receiving these messages, whether in a group or individually.  So for the newcomers we present a contribution entitled "Country Chronicle," rendered as follows:

August is a month that makes me feel at home and at ease, whether I am here in my own hills or far up in the mountains or at the shore of a lake somewhere.  I make them mine while I am among them, for they are a part of God's plan in the universe.

Something about August seems so serene, perhaps because it is the culmination of both spring and summer, a phase of the year that leads on into September and an autumn of maturity.  It sweeps me on into a period of complacency that finds no equal in the coming and going of the seasons.

I look at the natural world, and wherever I look there is beauty in the bloom.  Look at the loveliness of the cardinal flower with its scarlet blooms along the banks of streams and swamps and swales.  The gold of godder in the thickets and that of goldenrod is almost everywhere, accented with the plumes of the wild clematis, the purple of Joe-Pye weed.  Meanwhile, the stitchwort sews the hummocks together.

One of the fascinating features of this time of year is watching huge blocks of barn swallows gather on the utility lines, long rows of them, gathering together for their early departure for Argentina or Costa Rica, their home for the winter.  They do not seem to linger long once they rear their young; they are ready now to bring their season to a twittering close.

Walk out into the hot, dry fields where the grasshoppers are.  Listen to the rasping of the cicada in the torrid heart of day.  Listen for the soothing sounds of the crickets and tree frogs and katydids as evening comes.

August days are mellow and placid; they are all I need to line my face with smiles and touch my heart with song!

And there, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, is Lansing's contribution for today.  Perhaps most of you aren't familiar with the flowers mentioned in this article, but I know of one person who gets these articles who used to work in a flower shop, and perhaps she is more familiar with them than most of you.  At any rate, I hope this article was a blessing for you.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be another daily thought article for you.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul