The summer solstice, the longest day, is upon us. Â Midsummer Day has always been celebrated; we are holding a concert in Glazeley Church as well a local history exhibition, as part of our festivities to mark 150 years since the church was rebuilt. In pagan times, Midsummer Day had particular significance for those who worshiped a sky or an earth god. Memories of the pagan significance were probably long lost following the conversion of this country to Christianity, but what was remembered was that the day was one to mark with a celebration.Â
As far as I know, the Christian calendar is silent about Midsummer’s day; we have no special service. But, by coincidence, the New Testament reading appointed for it is Jesus’s teaching on worry and in this he uses a very appropriate nature image; “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these”. Perhaps that is a sufficient thought for the day.
Rev David Poyner