Tag: God

A rare and joyous beauty

The Dog-Wood Rose. Photo by Gill Henwood.

“The hedgerows are arching with dog rose blooms, buzzing with bees and heralding summer.”

My friend Gill has sent me this photo of a dog-rose growing in the Lakeland hedgerow near her home. It is a sign that summer is bursting forth in our part of the world, even though June rain storms try to tell us otherwise!
The dog-rose is perfect for pollinators such as bees and later in autumn, as its blooms are transformed into rose-hips, it is a source of food for birds.

The legend that gave it its name is attributed to ancient times. It is suggested that the Roman naturalist, Pliny, encouraged a belief that the plant’s roots could cure the bite of a mad dog. Hence its botanical name is ‘Rosa Canina’. The plant was popular for treating bites from rabid dogs in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Another view is that the name is related to the hooked prickles of the plant which have a look of dog’s teeth. It’s thorny, unruly stems make it an ideal hedge plant, giving it a density which allows it to do it’s job of protection.
It may, of course, simply mean wild rose, of which there are several species, to differentiate it from cultivated and posher roses! Maybe that could remind us that wild beauty is a God-given pointer that Nature has its own way of painting our world with a rare and joyous beauty.

This can  be related to some of the meanings of the dog-rose.
One such meaning is that of ‘Purity’, especially in a religious and spiritual sense.
It is also known for its ‘resilience’ in that, whilst having delicate flowers, it can withstand harsh conditions.
In affairs of the heart the Dog-Rose has been linked with ‘love and beauty’, in many cultures and mythologies. In Victorian times the flowers were given as a sign of affection  which, if returned, suggested an interest in marriage. You can always trust the Victorians to find ways of expressing sentimentality.

Though there is no specific reference to the Dog-Rose in the Bible, it has been linked with the Rose of Sharon In the Song of Solomon 2:1, we read : I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys.
Links have also been drawn with Isaiah 11: I – a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse and from his roots a bud shall blossom, which has been interpreted as a reference to Jesus.
There is no real link with the Dog-Rose in either passages and the Rose of Sharon is usually taken to refer to the plant, Hibiscus Synacus.

However, in one symbolic meaning of the plant, there is a direct link with Jesus Christ. The Dog-Rose is strongly associated with Rebirth-and Resurrection. This is partly because of its association with love and purity but it is also linked with a legend about the Crucifixion of Jesus.
In this legend there is a suggestion that the tree was once very large and the wood was strong. It was thus able to be used in Crucifixion.
According to the story it was the dogwood tree that was used to make the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. Because of this, it is said that God both cursed and blessed it.
It was destined to be forever small so that it could never grow strong and tall again and be used as a cross for crucifixion. Also, its branches would be crooked and twisted which would make it useless for such a purpose.
Then God also blessed it. It would produced beautiful flowers each Spring, white or pink, as a sign of Easter glory. God also made its petals in the shape of the Cross, each flower having four such petals. In the centre was a crown of gold.

Like all legends there are things that could be disputed but, legends are never made-up stories nor fanciful thoughts. They always contain a truth which, whilst sometimes clothed in mystery, leads us into a deeper understanding. God is always bigger than the words and thoughts we have of him and we would be wise to see His signs and hear His language in Nature and in the Cosmos and also in our hearts where God’s Spirit constantly dwells. So the lovely Dog-Rose has much to teach us and we who seek God’s truth have always more to learn.

In this spirit, I print below an anonymous version of the Legend.
Make of it what you will but don’t just dismiss it for it may be that otherwise you will, to quote the poet Frances Thompson, you may miss the many splendid thing.

In Jesus’ time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.
‘Twas strong and firm, its branches interwoven.
For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.
Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:
“Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so.
Slender and twisted, it shall be
With blossoms like the cross for all to see.
As blood stains the petals marked in brown,
The blossom’s centre wears a thorny crown.
All who see it will remember Me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.
Cherished and protected, this tree shall be
A reminder to all of My agony.

[Anonymous]

Mr. G. 6th June 2025

Quiet Garden

Rosemary’s Quiet Garden at Dunmow, Essex. photo by Mr G.

Quiet Garden

In the Quiet Garden
birds sing antiphonally
in the monastery of the air.

Ducks murmur gossip
across the pond
informing prayer[!],
as a bee hovers lazily
over new mown grass.

Carefully manicured borders
teem with joyful colour
as plants flower,
gratefully supping May-time air
fuelling their thirst for new life.

Nearby, a church bell,
a single, insistent chime, repeating,
marking the moment;
calling to prayer.
Insects of varying kind respond,
their plainchant lifting our souls.

Nature speaks to nature
nurturing all Creation within,
where God waits to draw us
into the Divine heart.

Roses in the Garden at Dunmow. Photo by Mr G.

Mr G.
24th May 2025.
[inspired by Rosemary’ Drew’s Garden at Dunmow, Essex,
offered as part of the Quiet Garden movement,
as a place of spiritual refreshment and re-creation]

Abundantly

Glow sticks and Sticklebacks, Night Swimming. Art by my friend Kay Gibbons.

Abundantly.
(a pondering on the Gospel of John Chapter 21: 4- 14)

There were 153 of them!
Fish, I mean.

They cast their net in obedience to the familiar stranger.
It was a futile gesture towards one whom they vaguely knew
from a past now best forgotten.

Wearily, bleary-eyed, minds dulled with a sadness
they could not describe,
they cast their nets.

Sudden movement beneath the waters
the sea swirling and churning with an activity
they had not expected.
Nets, recently mended after a disuse of three years,
strained, grew taut, threatening to burst.

Hard to haul it on board
even when arms and minds and hearts
instinctively took over.
Professional pride in a trade once learned
could not be forgotten.

Meanwhile, on the beach
the smoke of a fire curled lazily upwards.
He bent over the fish, gently cooking,
bread crustily browning.
How could they not now recognize him?

He called them children.
They belonged to him, now more than ever.

The fish were counted,
their number recorded.
153.

It would occupy the minds, debates, writings
and arguing of theologians  down the ages.

Literalists would ponder on so odd a number.
Biblical scholars would wonder on the significance
and write the odd thesis about symbolism
without knowing whatever it meant.

From the beach, he simply said, “Come and have breakfast.”
so ordinary, just as often before.
but somehow very different.
They knew now that they were in God’s presence
God was feeding them
and loving them.

As he would time and time again
in a future where they would touch others with His love.
Abundant love,
abundantly given and received.

153 ?

The number representing God’s abundance,
God’s outpouring of a grace and kindly love for all?

Why not?

[Mr G Eastertide 2025]

{ you can find more of my friend Kay’s art if you go onto Instagram.
kaygibbons_art.glass.sculpture}

[][][] The number 153 refers to the number of fish miraculously caught by the disciples in John 21: verse 11.

The Windflower speaks to us of change.

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]