This is a photo taken by my friend, Gill Henwood, of swallows preparing to leave us for different climes. It is a sure sign that the Season are changing and  that Autumn will soon be here. (Though the heatwave in Britain at the moment suggests that there may be a short delay!)

Today I received a letter from another Lakeland friend, Lesley, and she too makes reference to the Swallows. This is what she said:

I have been watching the swallows gathering on the wires that weave this way across gardens and fields. It is interesting to watch the birds jostle to claim and make space on the wires for themselves, some more forcefully than others.

They look so vulnerable. It is hard to imagine the long journey they are preparing to make back to their winter quarters. Soon they’’ll go, flying through difficulties but obviously with an inner certainty about it all. They are held through and beyond the struggles in God’s fantastic plan of Creation.

Even the sparrow find a home
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and My God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.

[}Psalm 84 v 3-4[]

Lord, your psalmist sings of the birds, the sparrows and the swallows
finding a home and a nest in your presence
where you take care of them with tremendous love.
They fly now to winter pastures but they trust you on that long journey
and they know confidently that you are near them
and enfold them in your love.

May we be filled with that same confidence, trust and faith
wherever our lives journeys take us.
May we find our home in you,
May our song of praise, like the bird song,
sound out in joy and thanksgiving.

[inspired by Psalm 84 v 3]

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