Photos by Gill Henwood of Hellebore & Rhododendron in her Lakeland Garden
The short period between the end of the Christmas Season (at Candlemass on February 2nd) and Lent, is known in the Church as ‘Ordinary Time’. As far as Nature is concerned this is very far from the truth. In the Western Hemisphere and particularly in Europe we are moving into the season of Spring. Though in many parts of Europe it has been a particularly stormy and wet period of late, there are many signs that there is new life emerging from the earth.
The photos which my friend Gill Henwood has sent show “hellebores in full flower and an early rhododendron.” She says that “both were budding before Christmas and, so far, have weathered frost and wind”, not forgetting hares which have turned their attention towards other plants this year! The Christmas Box plant has been wafting beautiful scent throughout Cristmastide. The aroma is fabulous even on dark mornings and dark night walks in the garden. For Gill, this is a reminder of the Frankincense of Christmas.
The ‘Greening’ of the earth which Gill’s photos point to is being experienced through the emergence of buds and bulbs shooting on branches and in the soil. Crocus and daffodil are close behind. My tulips are pushing leaves through the top of the pots, seeking the breath of light and life. This morning, near the church path, buds and a dusting of green spoke to me of God’s amazing creative activity. This Winter has been harsh for many and the world situation is so dire that there is a need for us to re-focus.
Right on cue we can fill our lungs with a breath of hope and wonder. We can find joy in the singing of the birds and soon the animal kingdom will fill our fields, forests & woodlands and gardens with new life. Bees and butterflies, insects and worms will populate our gardens, hedgerows,lakes and ponds. So much new life and growth will teem and swirl, dance full of life and reach to heaven as the trees prepare to become shade and homes and hiding places for all manner of creation..
And we? The Spirituality of Nature lifts our souls from creation to Creator. All this is gift from our giving God! And in a mutual thanksgiving, our part is to be custodians and stewards of the earth, living in deep friendship with Creation, Nature, and with all who allow us to share this earth with them.
Sometimes in our relationships we can lose touch with people. We might be so busy that we neglect friends, relatives, colleagues, even neighbours. It’s never intentional and when we do find time to catch up, it’s often as if we last spent time with each other yesterday. Even so, real friendships need to be worked at or we simply drift apart and our life loses a little bit of meaning or even love.
Of course, we do have to show that our friendship matters and that we really do mean to do something about it! Here’s a conversation I imagined.
Conversation.
We must catch up sometime soon! It’s been too long. There’s so much to talk about.
It’s amazing how time has flown
I don’t know where it’s all gone. It’s not intentional. Just so many things getting in the way.
Tell me about it! There just aren’t enough hours in the day.
But I’m determined to catch up, so I’ll ring you soon.
It would be good to get a date in the diary otherwise it will never happen.
I’ll email you with some dates when I get home.
Good plan.
Must go but it’s been lovely to chat.
Yes, hasn’t it. I look forward to hearing from you again soon.
Are there any dates you can’t do?
Oh no, I’m always around, but then, being God, I always will be.
Gill was tidying up her garden ready for Spring recently. – “We found this in our damp dell whilst cutting back ferns to give emerging snowdrops more light. This is a Scarlet Elf Cup (Fungus), A beautiful deep scarlet, hidden within the soft blush cup. Vibrant colour, in a woodland floor of decaying twigs and leaves, and mosses. Creation surprises us with unexpected delights. Rich red on a gloomy, cloudy, drizzling day.”
For more information, visit the Woodland Trust website, which describes the Elf Cup as ‘Mystical and cheery.’ Mystical and cheery, the scarlet elf cup grows on decaying sticks and branches in damp spots and beneath leaf litter on the woodland floor. Their bright pops of colour brighten up even the darkest winter day.
Elsewhere we read that, ‘The Scarlet Elf Cup’ gets its name from folklore that says woodland elves use the vibrant, cup-shaped fungi as tiny goblets to drink morning dew or that fairies bathe in the rainwater collected in them. Its bright red colour against the winter woodland floor, combined with its delicate, cup-like shape, inspired these imaginative tales of mythical beings.
Elf-cups (a poem by Mr G)
Hidden beneath decaying leaves forest debris moves. Soil crumbles beneath finger and thumb of creation’s constant action. Earth changing shape as pale wintry light penetrates the woodland womb bringing to birth cup-like, colourful fungi signs that winter prepares to herald Spring. God’s creation always surprises us, if we but look with open hearts ever expectant to be captivated.
Yet look again – these chalices of winter dew may carry Nature’s sacrament of new life to waiting elves!
Photo from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Thoughts during The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Last week at a funeral, I met a relative of the girl who had died. It was a Christian funeral but he was a Muslim relative. He was amongst members of the family who came from France but he had been brought up in Algeria. Despite the language and faith differences we managed to have quite a chat! Inevitably we touched on our differing faiths but soon found level ground when we talked about Abraham, known biblically as the ‘father of the nations’. The Muslim faith together with the Christian and the Jewish faiths all have Abraham in common. We can all trace our roots back to him which is why we sometimes refer to being Abrahamic in origin. I always enjoy these chance encounters because, if we concentrate on what we hold in common, they are often very enriching. God, Prayer and worship are the bedrock of all our religions.
Later, I thought about the many conversations and dealings I have had with those of other faiths. For example, I support a small charity named, Abraham’s Children in Crisis, which touches the lives of a group of children and young people living in the West Bank of Israel. Most are Muslim but there are no barriers and some are Jewish. They are supported in their education and medical care by Christians here in Britain. I know their names; what they look like; how they are struggling and how they support each other. I thought of them often during these troubled times. In a small way I try to share their fragile lives.
Some time ago now I was at a wedding which was a double one – in that it was held first in London at the Cyprian Orthodox Cathedral because the husband was an Orthodox Christian. We then travelled to Kolkata for a Hindu ceremony because Rumi was of the Hindu Faith. Both ceremonies were fascinating and very moving. I was enriched by the experience . One of my special Internet blog friends is KK who is also an Hindu so I feel a sense of closeness to him because of Rumi’s wedding. Another Rumi has a special place in my life because I am deeply inspired by his poetry. He is the famous 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic.Within Christianity I have discovered and engaged with many differing believers in Jesus Christ, whom we claim as our Lord and King. My own journey of faith began with its roots partly in Roman Catholicism. I was then sent to a Methodist Sunday School and I am now a strong adherent to the Anglican practice of the Christian Faith. Who knows where I’ll end up!
I am pondering these thoughts because this week, followers of Jesus Christ are keeping Christian Unity Week. Many things have happened throughout our history to divide us and even within particular denominations there is much brokenness and need for repentance but there is, at heart, a God who loves us and cares for us as His children.
It sometimes feels that what gets in the way of Unity – the sense that we are united as all God’s children- is because every church or group seem to think that they alone have the truth.(Bit like some world political leaders just now!) How false is that! I think that’s why I love and respect what the former Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, says that only in heaven is there Truth.On earth there are truths. God is the only real truth and all over the globe people are seeking to answer that profound question of Pilate to Jesus at his trial – what is truth? Truth on earth,Rabbi Sacks says, is not, nor can it aspire to be, the whole truth. It is limited, not comprehensive; particular, not universal.What propositions conflict is not necessarily because one is true and the other false He suggests that the difference is because we are coming at something from different angles but both are only part of the truth I believe that we can only look to God for the real answer and anyone who claims to hold THE truth exclusive of others, is bound to be mistaken. We can only learn truth if we listen to others and share our insights with each other and, of course, listen to God together in prayer. There is so much to learn and be excited by the story of people’s journey of faith and the joy and encouragement that brings to my own journey. We all have so much to share with each other and so much to discover about God.
There is much in Judaism I admire and there is much in Islam that I respect. My Hindu hairdresser in the North taught me a lot about prayer in the family. I love the joyful and convincing hymn-singing and biblical insights of the Methodists. I like the ritual and devotion of the Roman Catholic Church. I love the ceremonies of High Anglicanism; the intellectual honesty of Anglican theology; the exuberant praise worship of our evangelical brethren. I draw strength from Celtic insights into the sacredness of places and people; I enjoy the simple rhythm of Taizé; I find enrichment in ancient prayer forms like the Labyrinth; I adore the Orthodox Liturgy. I am reduced to silence by the witness of monastic places like Bec in Normandy, where prayer is the breath of the place; I like the simplicity of worship in a quiet rural church and my heart soars during Anglican Cathedral Evensong. I am loving being spiritually fed by Pope Leo! I find talking and listening to other believers fascinating.
And God is in all that and in much, much more. He is bigger than all our concepts of Him or He would not be God. Wide Vision goes with deep exploration. God is always teaching us something new. Evelyn Underhill spoke of all our differing expressions of faith as ‘Chapels in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit’. I like that.
We are all part of the Universal People of God. What gives any church real authenticity is if, in the words of Michael Ramsey, we are filled with the grace-giving presence of Jesus Christ. Grace-filled churches have no need of labels. They simply reflect God and so try to live in close friendship with GOD, the giver of Grace and Truth.
Mr G's Ponderings 