A Summer Sunset Psalm

O Beloved One,
this day’s light is seeping away,
and dark night crouches
beneath the amber horizons.
I am tired from the heat of the day
but not so weary that I can forget
this day’s rich harvest of gifts.

I lift up my heart to you,
singing a sunset song of gratitude.
I praise you for the blessings that fill my life,
for the gifts I can recall
and for treasures I take for granted.

Gently refresh me now
with your evergreen pardon
for my failure to drink deeply of your love,
hidden cleverly in each gift
that has come my way today.

Forgive my rushing past
the countless visions of you, unique to this day,
held so tenderly in the beauty of your love.

Blessed are you, my Beloved One,
who will soon wrap me in sleep
and hold me in the depths of your peace.

– Edward Hays
Adapted from Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim
Forest of Peace Books, 2005
p. 116

Related Off-site Links:
Summer Solstice 2023 Marks Longest Day in the Northern Hemisphere as Earth’s Seasons Change – Daisy Dobrijevic (Space, June 21, 2023).
“Excessive” Weather Events Mark Summer Solstice in the U.S. – Madison Roberts (NPR News, June 21, 2023).
Nine Ways People Celebrate the Summer Solstice Around the World – Kristen Pope (Smithsonian Magazine, June 20, 2023).
Ten Temples, Tombs and Monuments That Align With the Summer Solstice – Jamie Carter (Live Science, June 20, 2023).
Thousands Gather at Stonehenge for Annual Ritual Marking the Summer Solstice – Pan Pylas (AP News, June 20, 2023).
A Summer Blessing – The Leveret (June 21, 2023).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• A Summer Solstice Reflection
• Celebrating the Summer Solstice
• On This Summer Solstice, A Proclamation of the Power of Fire
• O Breath of Summer
• In Summer Light
• Say Yes to the Light
• Summer Blooms
• Summer Boy
• The Light Within
• The Source Is Within You
• Aligning With the Living Light
• I Need Do Nothing . . . I Am Open to the Living Light
• The Soul’s Beloved
• You Are My Goal, Beloved One
• Be In My Mind, Beloved One
• Your Peace Is With Me, Beloved One
• Beloved and Antlered
• Finding Balance in the Presence of the Beloved
• Meeting (and Embodying) the Lover God

Image: At Pelican Lake, Glenwood, MN – June 17, 2023.