A reflection and photos from my friend, Gill Henwood. (a nice treat after I have spent a few days in hospital)
Surprising resilience and fortitude from the peonies in full bloom, despite rainstorms and hail showers interspersed by wind and sun.
Beauty with endurance – much to ponder…
And, thankfully, though the rabbit invasion has chomped off all the aquilegia and ragged Robin, they have so far spared the peonies. The badgers have been busy in the short nights, rotovating the meadow for pignut roots, slugs and worms. Their presence only known by their deeds.
5 years ago today, my dear friend Joyce Smith died suddenly and we have missed her ever since. So today I am posting one of her delightful contributions to this blog. The photos were all her own and this was centred on a Kingfisher and on her patience in waiting to see it. The final comment is about the joy and gladness of God given to all who seek Him, as Joyce certainly did.
My friend Joyce Smith has sent me this lovely tweet in 2021.
“This little kingfisher posed for about 15 minutes at Fisher’s Green. We might have been looking for the elusive bittern, but the kingfisher certainly made the trip worthwhile!”
We live in an ‘instant’ society where we want immediate action, results or answers. This is true in Christian terms too. Many prayers are filled with demands or browbeating of God. But in our relationship with God there is a need for us to be patient. Had Joyce failed to be patient she might have missed the Kingfisher. The ‘elusive bittern’ is a joy to come on another day. The Kingfisher kindly offered an alternative view. It must have sensed a bit of disappointment because it stayed still, posing for about 15 minutes. Long enough to enjoy its colourful presence. Long enough to remind us that sometimes it is the things least expected which bring us joy and enlightenment.
The Psalmist tells us to be still and wait patiently for God to drop by.
There is a Taizé song, Wait for the Lord, sung often in Advent, but appropriate to think about at any time when we long for God or for a sign of his presence.
The Taizé song tells us that God’s day is always near. His presence is close to us but we must prepare our hearts to receive him and clear away all the things that might get in the way and stop us meeting Him. His ‘Glory’ is rightly portrayed often as an amazing display of God’s holiness which is a shewing of God’s presence. It’s posh name is from the Greek, Theophany. An obvious example is the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Holy Mountain. A spectacular event but personally it is when we see God not with our eyes but in our hearts where God reveals himself in a special way. It may be an awesome thing but it is a source of rejoicing because, as the Taizé song and Joyce’s kingfisher tells us, those who seek and wait for God will be rewarded with joy and gladness.
Wait for the Lord, his day is near Wait for the Lord, be strong take heart Prepare the way for the Lord Make a straight path for Him The Glory of the Lord shall be revealed All the Earth will see the Lord Rejoice in the Lord always
4 years ago this week I and many others mourned the sudden death of the Revd Joyce Smith. She was a humble and amazing priest who loved to serve people in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. She is still much missed. She was especially at home with the living and wonderful creatures of nature. She travelled far and wide, camera in hand and her photos and reflections became a lovely feature of this blog. In gratitude for her care of all creatures great and small (even humans like me!) I am going to post a selection of her offerings.
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Another Psalm reflection from my friend Joyce Smith, verses from Psalm 139. This is often called The Hound of Heaven and is about the way God calls us into relationship with Him. A relationship which so often he initiates and which is His delight and desire. It was a significant Psalm on my Christian journey and has remained very special to me. It is less about trying to escape from God and much more about how His love for us will stop at nothing to hold us close to Him. Even we ourselves can’t ultimately get in the way – which I think is a comfort and a joy.
Edith joined a house group I was leading one Lent. The Course was about Prayer and in one session we were encouraged to pray aloud for people and things that concerned us. We were given a week’s notice and just before we were due to meet again, Edith sent for me. She told me that she would have to miss the next session. She had an anxious and slightly guilty look so I probed a bit deeper. She was scared of praying aloud because she had nothing to pray about. ‘You see, I’m not very spiritual’. I think what she meant was that she wasn’t very pious. She thought that people had to put on a very posh or sugary voice when they pray believing that you have to speak to the Almighty in a certain way. Edith was too down to earth for that. So I asked her how her daughter was. She was going through an horrendous divorce. Edith told me all her anxieties and how she hoped God would strengthen her and be with her and the children and so on and so on. At the end I said to her, ’say ’Amen!’’ She asked me what I meant. ‘Well’, I told her, ’you’ve just been praying about your daughter for ten minutes so you might as well say ’Amen’. Edith was no fool and she got it right away. ‘I have, haven’t I?’ ‘Now come to the group and do it there again, amongst your friends.’ That is exactly what she did and everyone present promised to pray for her daughter. I saw a life lit up with new joy.
Edith didn’t join the rota for the intercessions. She had a much more important job in the church. She made all the purificators and corporals and albs and surplices. She was an amazing seamstress and everything she made for God’s service was made prayerfully. Every stitch carried it’s own moment of praise. ’It’s important to give God the best’ she would say. ‘After all, look what he’s given to us in Jesus. He’s given us so much love and grace. We must give our all to God!’
Of course, as she reminded me, she wasn’t spiritual! Yet she gave her all to God and that day when she prayed aloud in that Lent Group, she gave a bit more. And it made her happier than ever. I might just have forgotten to say that she not only made our albs and other linen, she also washed and ironed them! She lots more vestments for the Church—but she wasn’t spiritual!
As we Christians celebrate Pentecost, it’s people like Edith who come to mind because she is an example of those Christians who just use their gifts happily for God and actually don’t realize that they are doing anything more than returning to God the love they have received from Him. They never think about themselves. They lose themselves in the service of God and others. I think Edith was one of the most spirit-filled people I’ve ever met.
Mr G's Ponderings 