Dear Benedict,
Today the internet is awash with photos of the Northern Lights taken from all over the UK. I wonder what you would have made of them 1,500 years ago, or even if they were visible in Italy?
I’ve had them explained to me but actually they are just awesome. Sheets and bursts of colour dancing across the night sky. Last night was clear and ideal for them after such a big ‘solar burp’.
Everyone who saw it is talking about it and everyone who didn’t is kicking themselves for missing it. It seems that lots of people had them on their ‘bucket list’: a must-see sight or event that notion of which would probably puzzle you too.
Between Compline and Lauds, Benedictines still observe the great silence. There’s no more fitting time to contemplate the heavens. They are immense and vital, providing air to breathe, highways for aerial species and space to pray. As human activity messes with the air we must do all we can to raise awareness and right the balance.
Remembered bible: Keep watch and pray.
Make me air aware.
Janet Lees, Friend of Scholastica, Wandering Anchorite of Longdendale. 11.05.2024