Photo was taken from Tullig Hill, Millstreet, Co.Cork (Irl)

Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. We currently have 16 hours & 40 minutes of daylight and just 7 hours & twenty minutes of darkness. Last night at 11pm with clear skies it was still quite visibly bright.

What is a solstice?

Our Earth rotates on its axis once each day, producing the cycle of day and night.

At the same time, the Earth moves around the Sun on its orbit over the course of a year. However, the axis of rotation of the Earth is not lined up with the axis of motion around the Sun. Instead, it is tilted slightly at 23.44 degrees. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘ecliptic’.

This tilt means that during one half of the year the North side of the Earth is tilted slightly towards the Sun and the South is tilted away. For the other half of the year the reverse is true.

At the exact moment that the northern hemisphere is most tilted towards the Sun, the northern hemisphere experiences its summer solstice while the southern hemisphere has its winter solstice. About six months later, the northern hemisphere has its winter solstice while the southern hemisphere is at its summer solstice.

Thought on Sunday – July – 21/06/2020

‘The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.’ ~St Paul to the Romans 5:5

I like the word ‘poured’ in this line from St Paul. Other words that could have been used instead of poured are ’emptied’, ‘transferred’, ‘tipped’, ‘dispensed’ or ‘discharged’. But none of these come near the impact of the word ‘poured’. It accurately describes the outpouring of blessings that God always wants to bring to us. People have written lots of things about God. The scriptures are the accounts that are most read. Despite every possible experience from joy to severe hardships and setbacks, their experiences of God do not include the word mean or stingy. Everything about God is a generous pouring of love and blessings into their lives. These experiences continue to be written today. Many people can and still say that the love of God continues to be poured into our lives each day.