Summer’s Beauty

By Jeannette Doran

In Iowa, the corn grows, and the fields green.  Summer’s beauty enfolds us in God’s love.  We breathe in our Creator’s presence which surrounds us.  By mid-July, the corn reaches to the sky straight and tall as it stretches for the light. After the long days of  relentless heat leave the land parched, the summer storms are welcomed with their streaks of lightning which stir up the necessary nitrogen to nourish the roots. The corn’s roots sink deep down searching for life-giving water and nourishment in the rich black Iowan soil.  The leafy stalks gain strength swaying in the wind.

Just as the light and rain storms grow and beautify the corn, so our souls need the light of God’s grace and waters of daily compassion.  As our Creator cares for the corn, we, too, are provided for abundantly.  All of creation grows in the balance of sunlight and darkness, summer’s heat and thunderstorms to water the parched land.  In our busy lives, we also thirst for intervals of deep silence and listening .  We crave the space to sink into that silence of our inner being to listen to the whisper of God’s presence, letting the light spill over the shadows of yesterday’s tears.   The warmth of God’s love intensifies our experience of our Creator, which deepens and expands as we spend more time in quiet prayer.

When we sit still in the warmth and light of the divine presence, we nurture a deeper confidence and intimacy with our Creator, who is always with us, calming our fears.  Light, warmth and rain storms are needed to cultivate the corn in summer, and we need the warmth, light and rains of the Holy Spirit to wash over and envelop us each moment.    God’s compassion is new each morning and is always there for us.  Take time to hold onto God who waits in silent spaces, and joy and peace will pervade your day.  Breathe in Jesus and breathe out mercy.  In contemplating the rich beauty of the cornfields in summer, recall the necessary stages of growth it has experienced along the way, and the care it has received. 

Believe in the divine tender love and mercy surrounding you.  Live in the consciousness of this tender presence through your own experience of God’s unconditional love for each one of us.   May we all grow in grace, washed in the Spirit and bathed in God’s everlasting and compassionate love.