Orbital planes and tilted axes

The moon is now quite high in the misty dawn sky. At this time of year, the full moon sets much later each morning, whereas it rises only a little bit later each evening. This is why the ‘harvest moon’ is such a familiar sight, rising at a similar time for a run of successive evenings.

As it happens, this equinox-day ends with 100 days to go in 2021. Who knows what the last 100 days will bring? A new Johnson government, elected before there’s been an inquiry into COVID? More shortages of natural gas – that fuel that we all want now because it’s marginally less polluting than coal? A trade agreement with the Maldives? Undeserved pain, terrible suffering, undeserved good fortune? Nobody knows.

But we put our trust in God anyway.

Mark 9:40

God help me to take seriously
people of other Christian communities,
to value what they are contributing,
to be honest when we cannot agree,
or when what they are doing seems harmful.
Give us all
genuine respect.

Compassion fatigue

God of love, give healing,
for COVID hasn’t gone away.
All round the world, unprotected people
are getting sick and dying.
Not far away,
people are getting sick and dying.
God save us.
God restore in us
the desire to help and heal others.

Priorities

shadows near the Pennine Way

Looking at the gospel reading out of tomorrow’s Lectionary, we see something of Jesus’ priorities according to Mark – children and people not generally regarded as the ‘greatest’. Earlier, he predicts the death of ‘the Son of Man’ – by which we understand ‘Jesus himself’. What the disciples understood by this at the time we do not know. Whatever they understood, they were unsettled by this talk of betrayal and death – as I continue to be unsettled by the violent times in which Jesus lived. He was able to be who he was even in such circumstances. We his followers are still often scared. May God give us courage.

Random photos

A flower to light the gloom
Band 3 tree at the cricket club
St Michael and All Angels Mottram, bearing the signs of a smoky past
‘Lower’ as in ‘lower fat milk’?
Morning mists