Day Twenty Seven - November

It is so easy in our daily prayers or when sending up arrow prayers (are we still allowed to say “up”?) to concentrate on intercessory prayer. During COP26 in particular, it was very difficult to stop confessing our sin in not caring for the world that God made good and asking for example that China, India and USA would listen to facts and learn to change. What was there to be thankful for? All our measures to date are just a drop in the ocean – which is definitely the wrong metaphor to use with sea levels rising and threatening whole island nations.

This is a bleak time of year, apparently. Here is the end of a Thomas Hood poem:

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,

No comfortable feel in any member —

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,

November!

As it is my birthday today, allow me to refute his words.

Thank you Lord that although the sun is well-hidden behind clouds, I have a warm hat, scarf and mittens and when I walk from my front door I see an abundance of cheerful people. I thank you for my neighbours whose children are undertaking their usual autumn routine of gathering fallen leaves into piles and delighting that the wind has scattered them overnight and they can gather them up again. Thank you for simple pleasures.

Thank you, healing Lord, that a walk of just the right length eases my joints without making my muscles moan. Thank you, Lord, that a good night’s rest (okay only six hours but sometimes that is enough) has eased my aching shoulder. Thank you that we don’t need shade from harmful solar rays, and thank you that when the sun does appear, we appreciate more for its rarity.

Thank you, Lord, for the butterflies on my duvet cover and on a friend’s jumper; thank you that we know about the plight of bees, so essential for pollination – on chilly evenings we can plan which bee-loving flowers or plants to acquire next spring. Thank you, Lord that nuts, apples and pears are still in season and thank you too that, although they have a carbon footprint, we can also enjoy oranges, bananas and melons.

Thank you, Lord, for our poppy bird-bath which provides colour all year round; thank you for the oil painting of a vase of flowers that sits by my left shoulder as I write these prayers: those flowers never fade. Thank you, Lord, for leaves – the dead ones on the paths, with such vibrant colours of yellow, orange and red; thank you too for evergreen trees, which stand in contrast to their starkly naked deciduous neighbours.

Thank you, Lord, for bird tables and half-coconuts filled with fat and seeds that bring a variety of birds – yes, I know some of them are pigeons and starlings, but they too are your creation. Thank you for our resident robin, with his characteristic red breast which reminds us that once November has gone, Christmas is on the horizon.

Thank you, Lord, for all we have, all we are and all we could be if we followed you more closely. Amen.

Elaine Kinchin