The third winner in my recent competition – in the photographic section – is my friend, Mary Bard.
Mary wrote: Here is my entry for your little competition. This squirrel has tried everything to get into my squirrel proof birdfeeder. The birdfeeder wins every time! (When he puts his weight on the little stands, it pulls a protective wall down so he can’t get at the food.)
The squirrel may not be successful but it’s certainly an action shot worthy of a wildlife competition. A prayer comes to mind which if the dear squirrel prays it may help in the search to find an alternative food supply.
Some time ago, my vicar Lynn gave me a photo of three pigeons sitting on top of the Church roof in a rather posed sort of way. When I published it, I set a little competition with various categories. I had a number of entries for each and I’m now publishing the winners.
The painting section was won by Rosie Cannon aged 10
The poetry section – a poem about pigeons was won by Kim Herbert
and the photographic section ,a leaping squirell by Mary Bard.
Each of these have been sent a little prize and over the next few days the winning entries will be published here.
Rosie’s picture is first and she has written this about what a she has painted. Well done. It’s an amazing painting from a talented 10 year old
Hi ! I’m Rosie and I created this picture because God inspired me to draw and paint a butterfly because he created them and everything in his world .
A group of us at my church recently shared in a Quiet Day led by our Archdeacon Vanessa.
Her addresses were about different aspects of Prayer – Prayer and silence; Prayer and Place; Prayer and Time; Prayer and the Senses.
Each one has its own way of inspiring and creating reflection. We were encouraged to engage with the gift of silence to ourselves, each other, and especially to God. We were also encouraged to receive the Gift of prayer to us from God and seek the Holy Spirit at work within us. In a beautiful phrase we were to sense ‘God speaking to God from within.’
Looking at Prayer and Place, Vanessa prompted us to think of the places where God has been easily found. She herself, spoke to us of Lastingham in the Cleveland Hills in North Yorkshire. Here the Saxon monk Cedd, pupil of St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, set up a monastery. This same Cedd brought the Gospel to Essex, to Bradwell which was consecrated by his presence and his prayer.
I haven’t been to Lastingham for many years but Vanessa opened up the memory and the experience within me. Below is the poem that I felt encouraged to write.
With it is a poem by Piers who was at the Quiet Day. Inspired, this time by the Abbey of Bec Hellouin in Normandy. Bec in the past supplied us with three Archbishops of Canterbury, Lanfranc, Anselm and Theobald. Bec still has a special relationship with Canterbury Cathedral. Today, only the tower remains of the Norman Abbey but a community of monks live in buildings near the tower. A sister community of nuns live in a convent a short distance away and on Sundays and Feast Days, the monks and nuns worship together. The serene and beautiful worship in their chapel inspired the first of the poems.
Both locations express the essence of what Vanessa spoke of to us. Thin places where heaven touches earth and God feels very near.
l’Abbaye du Bec
In my mind’s eye, I return: cream quietness… light bathing ordered stone, the scent of sung prayer hanging low.
Immanence re-discovered.
Piers Northam 10 July 2021
Lastingham
I come to this place, deep in the hills, where silence and conversation meld into stillness.
God is here, his sanctuary a stone rainbow over the seeker after meaning.
What am I looking for in this place, where the one who drew others to their knees, poured out his soul?
I sense and seek the company of the one who prayed here first, in the shadows of sweeping arches, pillars and faint light.
Seemingly impermeable rock – steeped in suffering and joy; pain and perfection; faltering hope and confident determination – enfolds me as I kneel with Cedd:
exhaling uncertainty… …inhaling God’s blessing and his love.
Geoffrey Connor 10 July 2021
Photos: The Apse Chapel Pennant Melangell Church Mr.G Abbey Church Bec Hellouin Piers Northam Crypt, Lastingham Church. Parish of Lastingham
Mr G's Ponderings 