Stroll for Your Soul Day 4

An online resource adapted from, and used with permission, from prayerbench.ca

Weather Report: O Changeless Shade
Todays Weather 
What kind of a day is it? Will you need an umbrella on your stroll to protect from raindrops? Or maybe a parasol shading you from the sun?
Take a few minutes to learn a few facts about the long history of umbrellas and parasols.  Watch: Umbrellas. 

Weather with You 
Psalm 121 is a favourite of mine (Janice). I remember my grandmother playing “Unto the Hills” on her old pump organ and she and my grandfather singing the words. 
For our attention today, here is verse 3 of the old hymn.

“Jehovah is indeed thy keeper true,
  Thy changeless shade;
Jehovah thy defense on thy right hand
 thine own true aid.
And thee no sun by day shall ever smite;
No moon shall harm thee in the silent night.” 
(written by John Campbell in 1877 and quoted from Voices United)

Like an umbrella or a parasol, God offers protection and shelter. God is closer to us than our very shadow.  O Changeless Shade.
As you begin to stroll today, or look from your window, ponder what divine protection means to you? Remember, with gratitude, times when you felt sheltered in the Presence of the Holy. 
O Changeless Shade. Let this be your strolling mantra. 
Recall, too, times when you felt exposed to harsh elements of life, wishing you had more shelter or protection, what did you miss? What helped you endure? What “true aid” was there for you in such times?
O Changeless Shade. 
When you return, hold your umbrella in your hands. Really get a sense of it in your hands, it’s weight and it’s wonder. Begin a prayer with the words  “O Changeless Shade.” What rises from your heart? 
Don’t have an umbrella? Here is a colouring page and you can meditate while you colour and/or write your “O Changeless Shade” prayer or poem. 

Weather Blessing 
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Peace, Rev. Gail