A colleague from a different country across the ocean told me recently that he could not understand the British obsession with the weather until he started working here regularly. The grey summers and the need to switch from T-shirt to overcoat are confusing to someone used to consistently hot temperatures without variation. Similarly, here we have no hurricanes and no winter deep freezes that completely seize up our ports.
Last week, fresh from grumbling about the rain, I took my morning stroll through a pea field where the crop has gone from ankle to knee-high in no time, and it occurred to me that while our maritime climate may not suit all tastes, it is not all bad. The crop of peas in the picture looked promising to my eye, though it is out of practice these days. There is justifiable concern in arable farming circles about the likely size of this year’s forthcoming cereal harvest because of the weather since last October.
It is sometimes an unpalatable truth that we are truly fortunate to live where we do. We have our moments and our isolated or regional problems, but these British Isles are rich and fertile, and we would do well to remember our good fortune compared to other parts of the world when we grumble about what we have.
In Psalm 65:9-13 we read the following. It was written in a country far from Britain but could well describe these islands, and we do well to remember our good fortune. A damp summer holiday is not the end of the world, even if it seems so.
You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with corn,
for so you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with corn;
they shout for joy and sing.
A Prayer Loving Lord God, in these summer holiday times, help us to remember the good things we have and the blessed reliability of our lives. It is easy to grumble when our days do not match up to what we think they should be like, but we have food, we have shelter, and we have your love surrounding us. We thank you. Amen.