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Ice Bow over Holy Island

This photograph was taken by my friend Gill Henwood during a visit to Holy Island (Lindisfane) this past week.

The unusual light formation is of a weather phenomenon known as an IceBow.This is an ice-halo formed by plate shaped ice crystals in atmospheric clouds. Sunlight refracts through ice crystals giving this circular effect. Sometimes it is known as an ice-rainbow.
I’m told that it is extremely rare and not all that easy to photograph. (please ignore the green dot which is a camera effect and not a visiting martian!)

We are once again reminded that our planet is constantly surprising us. There is a beauty and awesomeness that is pure gift. We just have to tune ourselves to see the many splendored thing

In the Prayer of Azariah (Old Testament Apocrypha) verse 49, we read :
Bless the Lord ice and cold;
Sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever. (NRSV version)

This forms a verse of the Praise Song known as the Benedicite. (The Song of the Three Children)

O ye Ice and Snow, bless ye the Lord :
praise him, and magnify him for ever. (verse 13)

The Song is an amazing prayer of Praise to God our Creator and a recognition that everything owes its being to Him. Praying it helps us to keep and correct the delicate balance of the earth, as well as putting us in our place!

Benedicite

1 O all ye Works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

2 O ye Angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

3 O ye Heavens, bless ye the Lord :praise him, and magnify him for ever.

4 O ye Waters that be above the Firmament, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

5 O all ye Powers of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

6 O ye Sun and Moon, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever. #

7 O ye Stars of Heaven, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

8 O ye Showers and Dew, bless ye the Lord :praise him, and magnify him for ever.

9 O ye Winds of God, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

10 O ye Fire and Heat, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

11 O ye Winter and Summer, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

12 O ye Dews and Frosts, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

13 O ye Frost and Cold, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

14 O ye Ice and Snow, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

15 O ye Nights and Days, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

16 O ye Light and Darkness, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

17 O ye Lightnings and Clouds, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

18 O let the Earth bless the Lord : yea, let it praise him, and magnify him for ever.

19 O ye Mountains and Hills, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

20 O all ye Green Things upon the Earth, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

21 O ye Wells, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

22 O ye Seas and Floods, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

23 O ye Whales, and all that move in the Waters, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

24 O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

25 O all ye Beasts and Cattle, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

26 O ye Children of Men, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

27 O let Israel bless the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

28 O ye Priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

29 O ye Servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

30 O ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

31 O ye holy and humble of heart, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

[Mr G]

Special and unique

“Dear Friends,
Isn’t it amazing that each one of us, and all creation, is unique and special to God.
With my love and prayers,
Joyce”

This latest Picture Tweet from Joyce, with the quotation from Margaret Mead, is saying something very simple and very profound.

You don’t need me to tell you that our world is in a mess right now. There are huge problems Internationally and more locally. The News is generally depressing and it’s easy to feel dispirited and overwhelmed.

So, all the more reason to look at the uniqueness of creation and all the wonderful things that are happening as Spring reveals itself once again.
We are all a significant part of that revealing so we can contribute uniquely to a new direction for our world.
A friend, Bishop Jack Nichols, commenting on the state of things, prays: ‘God Bless this Mess’.
We do that best if we are ourselves a blessing to the world.
We are such a blessing because of what Joyce reminds us about our being special and unique to God.
But don’t rely on what I say, or what Joyce says. Much more importantly believe what God says. Believe it and live out its truth in your life.
In Isaiah 43 verse 1, we read.

But now, thus says the Lord,
He who created you …
He who formed you …
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name,
You are Mine !!!

[Mr.G.]

Play the Piano for me.

I call this *‘Broken Music’.* It is by the Afghan street artist Shamsiah Hassani.
She did much to inspire women in Kabul to be empowered and confident in a male dominated society.
After the Taliban took over, she moved away from Afghanistan and her work now has a global perspective. One of her recent paintings, *Damn the War,* was addressed to the people of the Ukraine.
I have chosen this one to illustrate a poem I wrote on International Piano Day.

A poem on International Piano day

Play the piano for me.
I wish to hear music.
Play notes to calm my fears,
Soothing my soul from anxiety.

I live in a world ripped apart by sounds
gurgling up from the bowels of hell.
Bombs, missiles, bullets,
Angry tanks, guttural sounds of soldiers.
Many are far from home, tired too, hungry.
bewildered.
Sucked in by masters whose only language is hatred.
Their words a cacophony of crashing disharmony
mixed with disillusionment.
Such cankered and disfigured hearts,
no longer at one with the music that created them.

Buildings shake and discard the rubble of their former life.
Incessant noise, unceasing ruin.
No symphony.
No sympathy.

Wars begin in hearts crumpled by demonic blackness.
Is this hell?
Despair. The concerto of annihilation.

But, if you play music to us,
We may find a way out of all this.
Your sound of note caressing note,
sprinkles kindness over us , and love;
showing us where we need to be.

As the piano music lifts my heart,
I hear it’s tune –
There is more than hell on earth.
There is earth raised up to heaven.

Mr G. 29.3.2022

Please look at the work of Shasiah Hassani either on Instagram or by Googling her name.
There are a number of interesting and informative articles about her,

In love is our strength

My friend Joyce has sent me this lovely picture tweet. She writes,
This sleepy wood pigeon is enjoying the warmth of the sun and the beauty of the blossom before it is blown away. With my love and prayers. God bless, Joyce

There is a call to stillness as nature and the natural world bring forth the joy of creation. The blossom heralds Spring and, though fleeting, it is a sign of hope.

We all know that there is so much darkness and despair right now. Ukraine weighs heavily on our hearts and other places are unsettled. The girls denied an education this week in Afghanistan are only part of the problem there, as children and families suffer increasingly from malnutrition.

We need to remain aware, too, that there are many in Russia who oppose the war at their peril and yet are brave enough to speak out. They too need our prayerful support.

So whilst all around us there is destruction and fragility, it is good to be reminded that the earth still blossoms with beauty and the promise of new life.

Two years ago we went into the first Lockdown against Covid. That virus in differing forms is still with us. I myself am battling it at the moment, as are about a million others in the UK alone. Maybe we didn’t really learn the lessons. Maybe we should have taken up the opportunities of a new way of living and so developed new values by which to be truly human and truly at one with each other and creation.

At the time of the first lockdown, the artist, David Hockney, painted a series of paintings. Alongside them he said, Do remember, they can’t cancel the Spring! Maybe, in the midst of all that is besetting and destroying humanity in a maelstrom of the demonic, we need to pray and work for that truth.

Spring is God’s time of renewal and re-birth. To give us that gift, however, he had to take on the demonic of evil by dying on the Cross. It was the triumph of love and light against evil and darkness and, in the words of the poet T.S.Eliot, it cost God not less than everything. For Ukraine and other places of suffering, that is a personal reality for many right now, not least their inspirational and dedicated President, Volodymyr Zelensky. It is costing the Ukrainian Nation not less than everything.

Many of us are deeply humbled by the people of Ukraine and by the multitude of people who are receiving the victims of the war by opening their countries, their hearts and their homes with a generosity, compassion and love which is rapidly enfolding those for whom life has changed so deeply.
In such hospitality the demonic is being confronted and in many ways defeated by love.
God is enthusing and empowering that love.

Our little wood pigeon surrounded by blue sky and gorgeous blossom is, in its own way, a reminder that not only has spring not been cancelled but also, neither has love. It may be very fragile but it cannot be broken.

[Mr G]