"You make the outgoing of the morning and the evening shout for joy. You visit the earth, watering it, making it very rich." That is the opening of the psalm we read just before the last hymn. I'd like to ask the children, who do you think the "You" is in the psalm? The "You" who makes the morning and evening shout for joy? ....I'll give you a hint. It's from the Bible. To be more exact, from the Hebrew Bible or what many people call the Old Testament. The biblical writers were concerned about one thing....people's relationship to God. So who do you think the psalm is addressed to?....(Hopefully someone answers "God".) Right!

Psalms are simply songs to God....ancient hymns written thousands of years ago. I don't know if anyone knows today exactly how they sounded, but we know these were often "shouts of joy" sung to ancient instruments like harps, lyres and tambourines. Other psalms were laments or complaints about suffering and illnesses. Others were prayers for strength and comfort in times of trouble. But the most popular I'd guess were hymns of praise and thanksgiving. Singing them probably made people feel good, like the hymn we just sang.

So the writer of Psalm 65 was simply praising God for giving his land plentiful rain, rich soil and the bounties of nature....the grain growing in the valleys, the flocks of sheep and goats grazing on the meadow grasses. The writer sang praises for the great rivers, for the pastures perfumed with dew, for the hills "which deck themselves with joy." Maybe no crops grew on the hills, but I can imagine woods, colorful wildflowers and many songbirds singing in the trees.

All religions have their own beliefs about who created the world. Christians and Jews talk about God, although God can have other names like Jehovah or Yahweh. Orthodox Jews think that God's name is too holy to say out loud, so they call God "Ha Shem" ­ which simply means "The Name." Pagans often talk about the Goddess or Earth Mother. Moslems address their God as Allah. Native Americans speak about the Great Spirit or the Great Father. Many Unitarian Universalists talk about the Spirit of Life or the Creative Force of the Universe, while others simply say God.

Whatever you call this creative force, what it has created, particularly this planet where we live, is marvelous. And people from all over the world are in awe of creation and think of nature as holy. Not only does it sustain us, but nature's power is awesome and it is wonderful to behold.

One of my great joys this summer was to visit an organic farm in South Dartmouth. It is called Silverbrook Farm and it has been a farm since 1690. That's over 300 years ago! It is now owned by friends of mine, Andy and Jeff.

Andy's parents bought it over 50 years ago, but Andy's mother had neglected it for many years after she was widowed. When she died, Andy inherited the farm. He gave up his management job to work full time on Silverbrook. Andy, Jeff and many of their friends worked hard to restore it....making it even better than before. As Andy wrote about the farm on his website*:

"The property showed many signs of benign neglect. We spent countless weeks cleaning out the house, the barn and various out-buildings. We continue to repair sheds, replant orchards, cut and clear daunting over-grown fields and bring back the farm to the beautiful place that she is."

I agree. It is a breathtakingly beautiful spot. It is bountiful, with many crops of vegetables and herbs and flowers. The animals....the pigs and the chickens....are raised in clean, spacious barns and pens and coops. The lush, green fields stretch out to the deep woods beyond. Except for the tractor, it's easy to imagine yourself in another age, a pre-industrial age, when such family farms were common all over New England. It's a bit of heaven to me.

Thanks to the bounty of God's rain and the rich soil ....and the human love and toil that is put into it....the farm is thriving. From June through November, Andy and his farm staff are busy going to farmers markets every day of the week. They truck their produce up north to Boston and Cambridge, and out to Dartmouth, Plymouth and Provincetown. And people come to their farm to buy chickens and eggs.

At a party one evening at the ancient farmhouse, we ate a feast with some of the organic vegetables and herbs grown on that very farm. It was delicious. To visit this place, this piece of heaven on earth, made ME want to shout for joy.

So I ask you: What wonders of nature did you see this summer ...that took your breath away? What is it that made you want to shout for joy? I hope it was wonderful and that your summers were wonderful.

Shall we shout together "Amen"? Amen! And blessed be.