Read Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Think
Last week, we thought about the beginning of the Methodist connexional year and the wider question of how the Church marks time through the year. This week, many young people will have returned to school or will be anticipating their return very soon. It is also only a few weeks before students make their way back to college, university and other forms of further education.
The beginning of September also marks the start of Creationtide, a season in which the Church reflects on the gifts of God in everything around us in the natural world. It comes at a time when the old and new agricultural seasons overlap, as the harvest of one year gives way to the sowing of seeds for the next. In truth, that overlap continues throughout the calendar year, because not all seasons have their changeover in the autumn.
At the beginning of 1978, I joined the Church as a member. It so happened that 1 January 1978 was a Sunday. On that occasion, my mother gave me a book of prayers and liturgy called New Every Morning. It had been published by the BBC some years earlier and reprinted several times because of its popularity. I still refer to that book sometimes, and I have used much of its content in services I have conducted over many years.
John Keble, who lived at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, published The Christian Year in 1827. The words “His compassions fail not; they are new every morning” echo the passage from Lamentations and have stayed with the verses now sung in many hymn books as “New every morning is the love our awakening and uprising prove.” The hymn reflects the newness of God’s care and concern for us day by day.
Whether we are experiencing routine daily renewal or making bigger changes in our lives, God is still with us. His mercies continue to underpin all that we do. It is good for us to bear that in mind as we resume so many autumn activities from which we have had a break during the summer.
Pray
God, we thank you that you refresh your love for us every day, and that none of the events of yesterday can cloud the potential of the present or the future.
The miracle of the newness of your love, proved by the very fact of our waking to a new day, brings us to our knees in thanksgiving, and we rejoice.
Accept our thankfulness and praise; for Jesus’ sake. Amen.