Photo evening calm in the Lake District. Gill Henwood
Begin your prayer there… these words were written some years ago from the Nuns of West Malling in a little book of meditations. They are both simple and profound.
When my friend, Gill Henwood, sent me the photograph from the Lake District which she named, ‘Evening Calm’, I thought the words from West Malling `fitted the view.
Both the photograph and the words are a reminder that whatever the world appears to be right now, it is not all that it is! Gill comments, “I am finding that ‘communing’ with nature gives an eternal perspective in these dark days. The rhythms of light and dark, stars, moon and sun, budding flowers and trees all speak of a deeper creating. Love embedded in this world of human failure and violence reminds me that there are millions of fellow travellers who are people of good heart and faithful service and deep kindness ~ and of course that includes all creatures, like my lovely dogs!!” (Gill)
PS – not forgetting Mr G’s cat Pagli, the sponsor of this Blog.
Mist over Lake Windermere photographed by Gill Henwood.
My friend Gill sent me this photo of Late February mist over Lake Windermere in the Cumbrian Lake District. It breathes an air of hope and expectation at this very complex time in the world’s life. So much hate, divisiveness and pain is often hard to bear. So this photograph reminds us that there is another earth, a different view. If you study the photo the predominant colour is green,the colour of nature and new life Now in late-February in the Western Hemisphere, as the sun grows stronger, we are beginning to sense a change of mood in Nature. We receive a new joy. May it change the inner heart of humanity.
A prayer of hope by John Birch.
This prayer thought is by John Birch. He is a Methodist Local Preacher and writer who lives on the beautiful South Wales coastline. He is a prolific writer of prayers, some of which he has collected into books such as Sunshine & Storm, prayers for hope and justice in a fragile world. His collections are printed by Amazon and can be purchased from them. You can read more from him on his website, Faith & Worship. I find his prayers an inspiration and a comfort. His words open me to the nearer presence of God.
I am also grateful to Gill for her photographs and thoughts which together also speak to me of God. In these present times I am needing to hear God more and more and to see the divine reflections in Nature.
Tarn Hows photographed at the eve of Candlemass/Imbolc by Gill Henwood.
The photo speaks its own message. Very still, chilly breeze, birds singing for Imbolc/Candlemas ….But fallen giant conifer trees from the storms are on slopes exposed and waterlogged ground. After the storms, the birds sing of hope, for Spring, new life, another season to grow. Bittersweet calm, but the low sun rising is warming the cold wet land and her creatures. [Gill]
February tiptoes across a winter landscape, luring us away, from cold depression of dark, dank January.
Weak, shy strengthening Sun, practices dazzling us with brightness; whispering promises of hope about Spring beyond.
Ah! What trembling beauty lays a carpet of expectant joy!
Tarn How Gate, Lake District. Photo by Gill Henwood
The words below are often recited at New Year’s time. They are a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins which she crafted in 1908. She had studied at the London School of Economics where she also later taught. The poem first appeared in a collection published under the title, The Desert. It became particularly well known in 1939 when, in his Christmas Broadcast, King George VI quoted it. It words were particularly apt for a nation facing the darkness and uncertainty of War and in these dark days it remains powerful. It is suggested that Princess Elizabeth brought it to the attention of her father and later, it became a special favourite of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother who found comfort from it throughout her life. The poem appears on a plaque in the Royal Chapel at Windsor.
Gill Henwood has drawn the poem to my attention and has supplied a rather lovely photo of Gate to Tarn Hows from the woods above Coniston. Looking towards Fairfield Horseshoe on the Helvellyn range. English Lakes UNESCO World Heritage Site (The Lake District).
THE GATE OF THE YEAR
‘God Knows’
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”. And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”. So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
So heart be still What need our little life Our human life to know, If God hath comprehension? In all the dizzy strife Of things both high and low, God hideth His intention.
God knows. His will Is best. The stretch of years Which wind ahead, so dim To our imperfect vision, Are clear to God. Our fears Are premature; In Him, All time hath full provision.
Then rest: until God moves to lift the veil From our impatient eyes, When, as the sweeter features Of Life’s stern face we hail, Fair beyond all surmise God’s thought around His creatures Our mind shall fill.
[Minnie Louise Haskins]
Gate to Tarn Hows from the woods above Coniston. Looking towards Fairfield Horseshoe on the Helvellyn range. English Lakes UNESCO World Heritage Site (The Lake District).
Mr G's Ponderings 