We have been enjoying some distinctly unseasonable weather and with it there have indeed been some gloriously golden evenings.

I suspect that the colour of the sky has something to do with the golden sandy dust that covers everything at the moment.  Still, a little sandy dust is a small price to pay for glorious evenings.  The days have been warm but as the sun sinks the temperature falls and evening draws in earlier now.  Soon the leaves will fall and then winter will be upon us.

We know that this late heat is not a good sign but a warning.  Nature is all around us disrupted.  While we have basked in balmy conditions, other parts of the country have faced torrential rain.  Indeed, by the time you are reading this the storms may well have reached us also.  Beyond our shores other storms break, this time along the Gaza Strip, the latest in what seems a never-ending round of conflicts.  It is as if times of peace are but the breathless pauses needed while exhausted combatants regain the energy to resume.

All too often, as dawn breaks, the rising sun reveals not just the beauty of the earth, but also the busyness of the coming day; so much to do.  In the activity that follows, as we rush from place to place, or fret about what is not being done, peace becomes elusive.  Rest is essential; as much for the soul as for the body.  The planets may be in constant motion, living things require rest.  As the day draws to a close and darkness settles, is that our cue to rush ever harder to finish the ‘to do’ list or will the peaceful beauty of the setting sun bid us pause and just enjoy the moment?

You may recognise this week’s title, it is a line from the hymn ‘For all the Saints, who from their labours rest’.  It is a reminder that rest will eventually come to all of us, however far we have got with our ‘to do’ list – rest eternal.  But it is a reminder, too, that then a new and glorious day will follow.

Winter is coming, and with it storms of many kinds.  But there will break a yet more glorious day.  Meanwhile, when there is silence in heaven, when the evening sky is gloriously golden, don’t put it off until the onset of rest eternal; enjoy the moment; come aside and rest awhile.

Rev’d Philip Payne                                               The Notice Sheet for 15 October 23 can be found here