Summer invites us outside. Light peeks through the blinds earlier each morning and lingers longer each evening. Weather shifts from spring’s crisp dawns and bright green afternoons to June, July, and August’s slower summer simmer. Just as the earth sheds the weight of winter, we too shed the weight of winter. Short-sleeve shirts, lightweight shorts or perhaps a bathing suit, and flip-flops become the uniform of summer days, once the workday comes to a close. Even the foods we partake of in summer are lighter and simpler.
A shift in my soul appears also as summer shows up. I feel lighter, more carefree, and playful. Like a kid set free from nine long months of schooling, my soul soars with excitement, ready to swirl into new rhythms of soul care. Does that happen to you, too?
Before the sun crests the horizon, I sit on our new front steps and observe mockingbirds as they flitter among the dogwood tree’s branches. Cardinals chirp to one another in the crepe myrtle, sounding as if they are saying “cheer, cheer, cheer.” Bird calls nudge me into a game of hide-and-seek, investigating who is hidden high in the magnolia trees, giant oaks, loblolly pines, or longleaf pines in the neighbor’s yards. I gaze at our young garden, admiring its slow growth. Nature’s solitude and breaths of silence settle me. By this quiet slowing pace, I go to Jesus.
I’m fascinated with the tiny white flowers on the tomato plants, imagining juicy red tomatoes, perfect for slicing onto a simple summer sandwich. We planted our garden late this year, so zinnia seedlings just barely poke their head above the soil. Our local nursery’s cucumber plants climb the lowest rungs of their trellis on their journey to a prolific bounty.
Nature offers a feast for my senses as it beckons me to pay attention, to notice what chirps, creeps, or crawls around me. Creation requests a second and third and tenth beholding. Just as art, music, and poetry request more than one glance, so too God’s creativity requests a repetiton of glances and gazes at His great outdoors. Again, I discover how summer carries a flavor of delight.
Like seeds growing to seedlings then to fruited vines, time too expands in summer. Yes, part of it is the literal expansion of more daylight hours. Yet some of it involves suspension of normal routines, which seems to change the way I address time and space. I purposely add even more margin than usual to my work schedule in summer. I like how it feels to create a calendar full of spaciousness as it offers my soul more time of play and reflection. It’s easy to get happily lost in time and space as the summer shares its unfoldings all around me.
Summer opens up possibilities with its casual atmosphere. Pondering the months ahead, I spread out my desires before the Lord. What holy habits might be good to cultivate for my soul? God surprises me with a return to the familiar, adding a bit of a twist. “Come aside with Me this summer. Pray Psalms of the earth, of nature, of creation.” How well He knows what delights me. In the Psalms and in nature both, I quickly come alive to His presence.
As ever, the Psalms are our prayer book. We relate to its vast expansiveness of emotions. They give us permission to enter the moment at hand, along with God’s Truth that upholds us. We return over and over to the multilayered array of topics offered: life, death, troubles, joys, worship, worries, beauty, desolation, endings, beginnings, and the way God acts with His beloved people and His splendid creation. When my soul needs stretching and strengthening in one way or another, the Psalms extend my interior being.
I wonder: what spiritual habits stretch and strengthen your soul as summer unfolds?
Reading the Psalm 148 aloud as I sit on the front steps, I see how the Psalmist notices specific parts of creation:
Heavens
Heavenly hosts
Sun
Moon
Shining stars
Waters
Skies
Sea creatures
Ocean
Lightning
Hail
Snow
Clouds
Stormy winds
Mountains
Hills
Fruit trees
Cedars
Wild animals
Cattle
Small creatures
Flying birds
Just writing down this list causes me to slow down, always a good soul care practice. Memories spring up, recalling interactions with the places listed. In noting each item, I hum the tune to a favorite hymn which is also focused on God’s good creation: “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” Crafted by Irish Anglican poet and hymn writer Cecil Frances Alexander, inspired by creation on display in Psalm 104, her hymn draws our attention to the smallest bug and the tallest mountain. Her lyrics direct my gaze to God’s magnificence tucked into every nook and cranny around me.
Returning to Psalm 148 entices me onward this morning. Some reflections that guide my time include:
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- What does it mean that nature’s wonders praise God? Might I too step into more praise as I stay more present to the creation around me?
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- What happens when I interact with nature? What do I learn of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
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- What’s God up to in this invitation to Psalms and nature combined?
In the beauty, in the quiet of the morning, in the wonder of Nature, I see Jesus uprooting weeds within me. He renews the soil that will cultivate my soul. I wonder what He’s up to, what He’s wanting to grow in me.
I look forward to retracing my steps in familiar Psalms about beauty, wonder, and nature all around me as my summer spiritual habit. What about you? What will you engage in to grow and care for your marvelous soul?
I’m keeping the summer simple and spacious as I enter time to hear God’s heart and care for my own. I’m spending more time outside, lost in time, and in conversation with Father, Son, and Spirit. Union with God comes when I am most with Him. I find He’s slowly creating me into who He imagines me to be.
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- How does nature speak to you of God’s kindness? Of His playfulness? Of His infinite creativity?
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- What do you learn of God and of yourself as you sit in His creation?
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- How does the area where you live provide spaces for your soul to be quiet in God’s presence? At the park? The botanical gardens? As you walk your neighborhood?
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- What familiar spiritual rhythms delight you?
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- Where would you like to see new growth in your soul?
May you find moments of nature and moments in the Psalms that bring new beauty to the wonder of your soul.
APPENDIX:
Psalms which help us notice Nature
Psalm 8, Psalm 19, Psalm 93, Psalm 95, Psalm 98, Psalm 104, Psalm 107, Psalm 139, Psalm 146, Psalm 147, Psalm 148, Psalm 150
Verses in Psalms which lead us to contemplate creation and our Creator
Psalm 1:3
Psalm 24:1-2
Psalm 33:5-9
Psalm 36:5
Psalm 50:1, 10, 11
Psalm 65:6-13
Psalm 89:5, 9, 11
Psalm 96:9-13
