Cartmel Priory, Cumbria ~ Remembrance garden. photo by Gill Henwood.
Posted the day after President Trump sent shockwaves of uncertainty around the world, this beautiful Oasis of peace at Cartmel reminds us how much the world is actually caught up in the love of God. Cartmel Priory has been a reminder of that love for centuries and will go on being so long after the world has forgotten who Mr Trump was. Gill’s words below help us to refocus.
The drawing above of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus is by my artist friend, Kay Gibbons. It was recently exhibited in The Oxford Arts Society Show. Kate works in various mediums, especially stained glass; glass sculpture; water colour; sculpture; oil and much more. Her designs are often striking and bold and she has a tremendous eye for colour. To see more examples of her work, visit her on Instagram. (PS, I am a big fan!)
A Thought on Mothering Sunday from Kay
When all around is busy , crazy and chaotic … I like to sit quietly and draw and think and ponder and wonder… about this , that and the other …..
[Kay Gibbons]
Mothering Sunday is aChristian holy day, celebrated throughout Europe, that falls on the 4th Sunday inLent. It is a time when we traditionally celebrate the church as the place where our Christian family finds its home.In the past many people worked away from home—many children in service to big households—but on this day they were given time off to return home to their families, and to their ‘mother church’. They would pick flowers along the way to give to their mothers. It was also a day in Lent when the rules about fasting were relaxed, and it was a time when special Easter cakes were prepared, so it also became known as Refreshment Sunday, Pudding Pie Sunday and Simnel Sunday – after the practice of baking Simnel cakes to celebrate the reuniting of families during Lent. Mother’s Day** is a more recent invention when is a celebration of the role of mothers and families. It is celebrated on the same day that Mothering Sunday so the two celebrations have now been combined.
{ ** mothers’ day is kept at another time of the year in the USA and other places}
A Prayer on Mothering Sunday and beyond
Loving God, you have given us the right to be called children of God.Help us to show your love in our homes that they may be places of love, security and truth. Loving God, Jesus, your Son, was born into the family of Mary and Joseph; bless all parents and all who care for children; strengthen those families living under stress and may your love be known where no human love is found.Loving God, we thank you for the family of the Church. We pray that all may find in her their true home; that the lonely, the marginalized, the rejected may be welcomed and loved in the name of Jesus.Loving God, as we see the brokenness of our world we pray for healing among the nations; for food where there is hunger; for freedom where there is oppression; for joy where there is pain; that your love may bring peace to all your children. Amen
Windflowers photographed in the Lake District by Gill Henwood. Anemone or the windflower. Its name comes from the Greek word ánemos, meaning “wind.”
The Wood Anemone (a.k.a. Windflower),Opens to herald the Spring equinox, the turning of the season from dark to light. This is the time of renewed hope for the world through the Easter journey of Jesus. This journey began when the Angel Gabriel visited God’s chosen Christ-bearer, Mary of Nazareth, in the event the Christian church celebrated earlier this week – The annunciation. It was a momentous encounter. A new beginning. One which Jesus brought to us from God. It was a journey filled with joy, challenge and a ‘Word’ crafted in the heart of heaven and delivered to us as the Good News (Gospel). This ‘Word’ of God’s supreme and total Love for us and all who inhabit the earth, was not only spoken. It was ‘lived’ by Jesus at the very centre of his being because it is what defines him. He knew the power of darkness and unlove and he entered into the darkness and struggles of human life. He also knew what overcomes it. Sheer love of God which St John reminds us, at the beginning of his Gospel account, is the Light shining in darkness and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1: v5). Nor can it do so.
Even when the darkness tried to destroy Jesus on the Cross, on Good Friday, it failed because in the Crucifixion of Jesus we see and know and inherit the immense and unquenchable Love of God. That love will prevail and has continued to do so over two thousand centuries. We have to accept and receive it and be changed by it. In these globally dark days where some of our number are trying to have absolute power over us and many lives are being destroyed by war or through pain inflicted on them, we need to remind ourselves that it is God who will prevail. He arms us, who are his friends on earth, with simple armour – His Love. The more we use it, the more hatred and misuse of power will be challenged and will not prevail.
The Windflower tells us the time is coming, the wind of the Spirit is rustling away the winter and soon the Light of the World will shine. The little flower has endured the darkness of Winter but it has prevailed. May that be a message to all of us whatever we believe. We conquer evil with love. There is no other way.
[Mr G with inspiration and contribution from Gill Henwood]
On March 19th, the Church remembered St. Joseph, husband to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Though often rather like the ‘man in background’, Joseph played a vital and significant role in the birth of Jesus and did so in obedience to the will of God. God communicated that will through the message of an angel and did so on 4 occasions. These dreams are all narrated by the writer of St. Matthew’s Gospel. (Chapter 1 verse 18ff, and Chapter 2) In the first dream the angel assures Joseph that, despite his misgivings, it is God who has chosen him to be Mary’s husband and watch over her as she is pregnant with the son of God, Jesus. He is to be the protector, guide and provider of love and security to the Holy Family, to Jesus in his infancy.
The other dreams are instructions from God. In the 2nd dream, Joseph is warned to flee with Mary and Jesus when King Herod ordered the massacre of the innocent babies and young children in order to do away with the one who might be a threat to Herod’s kingdom. Joseph flees to Egypt. The third dream tells Joseph that Herod’s death means it is safe to return home but the 4th dream tells Joseph that there is still some possibility of harm so Joseph must avoid Judea and settle instead in Galilee.
Taking the theme of the first dream, a friend wrote a poem which she gave to me as a special gift. I have her permission to make it known to others, so here it is.
Joseph’s Carol ~ An Angel called my name
Blessed am I, blessed of all men. When dark had quenched the light of day A holy angel came; an angel called my name I am not good, not free from sin, Yet, as I slept and dreaming lay An angel called my name.
A simple artisan, someone Of humble birth, thinks not to see A holy angel bright. An angel came that night Through cool moonlight to sleeping world, From cloud-streaked sky to speak to me, An angel came that night.
Though humble, yet I count as one Whose lineage of David came. The angel seemed so near: the angel voice was clear: “And Mary shall bring forth a Son. God wills that Jesus be his name” The angel voice was clear.
And when that Holy Child was born, In Bethlehem, of David’s line, The angels came to see. The angel melody the dark sky filled. So from that dawn I played my part in God’s design. Oh God. My thanks to Thee.
Mr G's Ponderings 