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Good morning.

It’s the 12th of August – also known as "The Glorious Twelfth" because it is the traditional opening of the shooting season for red grouse in Britain. In Northern Ireland, the Glorious Twelfth has a completely different meaning, referring to the 12th of July, the traditional day of celebration for the Orange Order. There’s a sense in which these two interpretations of the same phrase couldn’t be more different. In Thailand, August 12th is International Mother’s Day, while the United Nations has designated it as International Youth Day – two other ‘glorious twelfths’, you might argue. It is interesting how certain days take on particular meanings, and have special significance. Each of us has a number of special days that we mark throughout the year. Our own birthday, for example, or the birthdays of loved ones. Wedding anniversaries, the day we met our sweethearts– whatever days loom large in our memories can become glorious, at least to us. Then there are days that remain in our minds for less happy reasons – the date of an accident, the loss of a job, the death of a parent or other bereavement. We carry those dates with us, and they remain imprinted in our minds as the day comes closer, arrives and passes.

The 12th of August is also known for being the peak day of the Perseid meteor shower, which happens every year; the visible debris of a comet’s tail as it orbits the earth. To me, this is perhaps the best reason to remember the ‘glorious twelfth’ – a brilliant shower of shining particles streaking across the night sky; a bit like our lives, really, when viewed under the right conditions: startling, brief but beautiful.

Lord of the universe, help us to realise that every day is a gift from you, full of potential and ours to use, glorious or not. Amen.

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