I have not written a posting for some days now - and in the meantime the summer solstice has come and gone. I always find that day rather depressing. From now on the summer is in decline and the days are getting shorter again. All over our land there are solid calendars of standing stones pimpled about the landscape giving testimony to the importance of knowing when that day was reached - and, not far away from Weston, Glastonbury has just finished a celebration of music, solstice and mud.

I suppose the problem is my attitude. I don’t believe a Christian should be pessimistic - but I’m one of those who tends easily to see the glass as half empty rather than half full. The reality is that in my little back yard the plants are a veritable forest, and the great tits are busy with a second brood.

So I ask myself again - why is the solstice so important? Why does Stonehenge command so much attention? The length of the days is written into the fabric of our solar system. It is not arbitrary - but evidence, less of the laws of gravitation, and more of the [1] promise of God.