At the time of writing the warmth of the season has been somewhat illusive. However the weekend of the Jazz Festival and bank holiday looks as though it will be one to rejoice and bask in some heat, washed over with the melodic sounds of another music festival.

For those that don’t know the Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, it is a book about love, not the love of God as such but between a couple of people. In fact the book as a whole doesn’t really mention God. Yet it finds itself into the canon of scripture in part because the couple's love for each other can give us an insight into the relationship God has with us. The text muses on the idea of falling in love in this season of warmth and relaxation as opposed to the cocooning sentiments in the winter months.

Now obviously the context for this writing was not the “green and pleasant land” of England but the more predictable setting of the Holy Land. Falling in love in England requires different imagery or metaphors! We have no clue what the weather is going to do each day, hence why we always comment on the weather with strangers and friends. Also it seems that our weather, locally and globally is in for a turbulent season from the end of this year onwards as we are likely to experience another El Nino event. This is caused by parts of the Pacific ocean rising in temperature above normal parameters. Depending on where you are on the globe will affect you in different ways from either excessive flooding to draught conditions. Perhaps we need to speak to Met office employees to get a better insight but it may bring a barmy/very hot summer next year. So if you are looking for love perhaps you will have to wait until then.

Love thankfully is not limited to a season, dependent on the sun shining, nor even reduced to the connection between partners. I suspect that if Song of Solomon was written in England, on one of our dreary days, then the language would be about getting cozy around an open fire, the birds could still be heard outside the window come rain or shine, but the appreciation would be for the green and pleasant land of rolling hills that we call home.

We always appreciate and even yearn for those pleasant summer days but one of the necessities for the changing seasons of weather as well as life is to accept and even value the season that we are in. So we may not reach the heat of last year, which was officially the hottest summer on record, but we could still appreciate it! Equally our health or circumstances may not be where we want them to be, but if we can value what we have rather than what we have lost it goes a long way to finding peace and contentment whether the rain falls or the sun shines.

I look forward to seeing your sun shades and rain macs over the summer!