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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett

Good morning.

As the sun rises to meet the day in the first crack of daylight, there is a moment when everything can seem fresh and new, and that all things might be possible in the day ahead. That’s also the feeling I get when a child is born.

Two couples I know have recently had their first child. One of the couples honoured me by asking if I would conduct the naming ceremony for their son, according to the rites and customs of his parents’ cultural community. One aspect of the ceremony is to introduce the child to a variety of elements from nature, including water, salt, honey and oil. All of this is to tell him, and remind those present, of the importance of those natural elements to his life right from birth.

Water of course because everything in life needs water to survive. Salt too is fundamental as the human body can't live without sodium in small amounts. Honey to remind him of the natural sweetness of life, and oil used to lubricate, massage and to soothe offered in the hope that his life will be smooth.

While in the West we have baptisms, thanksgivings, and naming ceremonies too, we don’t have ceremonies that establish for us the strong interconnection between our birth, our growth, our health and wellbeing and the natural environment. It might be good for us to find ways to show how much we understand what the earth means to us. If not, we may keep abusing its wonderful storehouse of gifts, until there is too little left.

Loving God, guide your children to walk on the right path, to journey with you through life and the treasure and respect all of creation. As the sun rises to meet the day, so help us to rise to this moment.

Amen