Blessed Litha.
It's a saying that has a few meanings - typically, it is said at this time of the year as a wishing of enjoyment and wellbeing for the summer solstice (yes, I am in the Southern Hemisphere).
It has a subtle, deeper meaning as well - a meaning that contrasts Abrahamic religions with Paganism.
First, the Abrahamic religions. I've written about my perspective on those faiths previously (see here), but a more recent example is useful - and that was a spammer (who was reported - by me - for being a spammer) posting explanations of their Abrahamic religion on an unmoderated Pagan group on Google+. The spammer started by explaining how their version of Deity is preparing people to detach from the mundane, or everyday physical, world, including people in it.
Paganism does not share that view of reality (or Deity).
To us, the world - and the people in it - are a blessing. True, some of the people may not have realised that yet, which is why we have greed, poverty, hunger and thirst, exhibitory over-consumption, etc, but the fact remains that this world is a blessing. It may or may not be a miracle, given the teachings of science relating to what happened after the Big Bang (and I have come across some interesting speculations about what was happening before them scientifically, but that is more properly the preserve of theologians, in my view), but it is a beautiful, rich in variety, productive blessing.
We are blessed to be here, and the deeper, subtler meaning of "Blessed Litha" is an acknowledgement of that.
(On another point, I mentioned people being a blessing: our relationships continue after death - and Wendy Zammit posted an interesting video on that recently.)
Another way of phrasing this is that "the world is a gift", which helps to bring out the other part of that deeper meaning: obligation.
Gifts from Deities are generally not free (nor are, in many cases, gifts from people - even if that is "only" an expectation that the recipient will incline a little more towards liking the giver, or an expectation of cementing a relationship of some sort a little further), they come with an obligation. I've often found commentary on the topic of gift giving in Celtic, Saxon and Viking societies (others may be similar, but I just haven't come across those) interesting - as an example, when a leader accepted a vow of loyalty from a new follower, the leader often gave a gift - an arm band, or a ring, and that gift symbolised the mutual obligation (including those times' version of Responsibility to Protect, which they took a lot more seriously than too many of the world's current and recent leaders), as well as expectations around prosperity (which modern democratic leaders generally share, based on the mutual obligation of voters having given the elected representative their vote).
In the context of the planet, the return obligation we have is to respect and look after the planet - do what we reasonably need to in order to survive (withOUT ostentatious and environmentally damaging displays / consumption), but not to exploit the world.
As I've often told people, my work (including my day job) on the environment and countering climate change are religious duties.
So ...
Blessed Litha ☺
