Summer . . . The breeze idles through the screen door, carrying the faint scent of honeysuckle or rose, gently swaying the wind chimes on the back porch. The pulse quickens slightly at the thought of all the possibilities—for a change in schedule, for a time of play, for a season of growth, for the chance to travel.
In the Northern Hemisphere our lives are measured by what we did with summers—the camp meetings we attended, the national parks at which we pitched a tent, the family picnics under the pin oaks down by the lake. We savor these moments of unrhythm, in which the regular, predictable patterns of school and work and even church life succumb to the pull of strawberries in season, unforgettable mission stories in the hot junior tent, and the book we have been waiting all spring to read.
This special, larger issue of the Adventist Review is both a celebration of summer and a resource for spending it well, and we offer it to our readers with the prayer that the growing season for all things living will also be a season of spiritual growth for each of you. In these pages you’ll find information for deepening your spiritual life, recipes for tasty vegetarian summer meals, recommendations from our editorial team on favorite books and media that will enlarge your thinking—along with some of our best-loved sections.
Keep this special issue near as you plan your own season of growing and journeying. As we celebrate 163 years of publishing this summer, we’re delighted to share with you the best the season has to offer.
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Bill Knott is senior editor of the Adventist Review. This article was published May 24, 2012.
