Tag: Joyce Smith

If I take the wings of the morning…

My friend Joyce has sent me another bird tweet with a quotation from one of my very favourite Psalms – Psalm 139, often known as ‘The Hound of Heaven’

Joyce writes this:

Dear Friends,
This White Stork was a surprise visitor on Hall Marsh scrape for just a very short while.
I suspect it’s satnav then re-calibrated and it flew back to mainland Europe.
Whatever the case, our Creator God watches over it and us, wherever we are.
With my love and prayers, God bless Joyce

Psalm 139 is one in which God’s care for us is celebrated but also which has an acknowledgement that there is no getting away from God who knows us through and through.
We can’t hide from Him, no matter where we try to go.
Why should we want to?

Well, we sometimes find it difficult to cope with someone who knows us, seemingly, better than we know ourselves. Sometimes God’s attention is unwanted.

In the film Amazing Grace (2006) about the great campaigner against Slavery William Wilberforce , there is a scene where Wilberforce (played by Ioan Gruffudd) leaves the house, his mind and heart in turmoil.
He knows what he is being called to do but it seems so difficult to do it. As he lay on the grass it begins to rain. His butler rushes to him with an umbrella and is perplexed at the state Wilberforce is in.
“Have you found God, sir?” he asks.
“Found God!!”, he replies. “No, He’s found me” and then he adds, “Do you know how inconvenient that can be!.

Well, yes. I think more than a few might agree with that!

Psalm 139 certainly played a big part in my own discovery of what God wanted from me.
But in that process He also showed me how dedicated and committed He is to me. To us.
He beckons us to Him because He so deeply loves us and that is just wonderful, as I’m sure the White Stork discovered.

We hope you do too.

[Joyce Smith & Mr G]

Dawn Chorus

My friend, Joyce Smith, has sent a Tweet about Nature’s heralding of Spring. Last Sunday was International Dawn Chorus Day (there’s always something for everyone!) and this Robin obliged by turning up in Joyce’s garden and giving a deeply spirited performance.

It got me thinking and so here’s a poem –

At the Break of Day

The Orchestra of Light tunes up;
Trying out riffs and practising scales
Cock clears his throat, ‘Ahem …  a-doodle-doo!’
Songthrush bustles importantly
into the auditorium –‘They rely on me to begin, you know.’
‘Not so’, cuts in Robin, with Blackbird on the wing,
‘We are well-known early risers
our song is eagerly awaited!’
Little Wren, never one to push,
slips onto the stage, 
apologizing profusely for her small stature.
‘Small, but beautifully formed’ says Mr Owl
on his way to bed,
‘sing me to sleep little one.’
The chiffchaff flies into the melée
of slowly gathering sound
as Chaffinch and Sparrow take a bow.
Mr Cock raises his beak,
‘Ladies and gentlemen, shall we begin?
Please open your music
at the ‘Dawn Chorus’,
written, I believe, by God.’

Mr. G.

12th May 2021

God Moments

A new photo-reflection from my friend Joyce Smith

Joyce wrote about her photo reflection: This Egret also sees ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ !

Spring is a time of new life; new hope after the darkness of Winter. This is no coincidence. This is God’s plan in creation, even when we don’t feel it. We have to learn to read the signs, of which the Egret is one.

There are all sorts of times in our lives when what we might call coincidences happen. Ways ahead  become clear, solutions happen, and there is light at the end of tunnels.  Maybe sometimes, when our faith is hard and brittle, something beautiful happens to raise our spirits or we find in a quiet moment that God is there, near us, after all.

My problem with all these ‘coincidences’ is that I don’t believe in coincidences.  Everything has a plan and a purpose.  When we are ‘surprised’ by something that happens which speaks to our souls then we are having what I call a God Moment.  This is the time when God acts in our lives in a surprising or special way.

It’s vitally important to believe in God Moments because it reminds us that we are in God’s hands and whatever we are going through, good or bad, is watched over by God. 
In Isaiah Chapter 43 v1 we hear God tells His people,
I have called you by name, you are mine. 
It is because of this that there will always by God Moments in our lives – times when something happens which God has planned to happen because we are His. Sometimes, sadly, we don’t believe this to be true. 
So it’s worthwhile praying the words in Joyce’s reflection from the first letter of John.

God is Light. In him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5b)

There is God’s light at the end of the tunnel!

(Joyce Smith & Mr. G)

Wait Patiently

My friend Joyce Smith has sent me this lovely tweet :

“This little kingfisher posed for about 15 minutes at Fisher’s Green. We might have been looking for the elusive bittern, but the kingfisher certainly made the trip worthwhile!”

We live in an ‘instant’ society where we want immediate action, results or answers. This is true in Christian terms too. Many prayers are filled with demands or browbeating God. But in our relationship with God there is a need for us to be patient. Had Joyce failed to be patient she might have missed the Kingfisher. The ‘elusive bittern’ is a joy to come on another day. The Kingfisher kindly offered an alternative view. It must have sensed a bit of disappointment because it stayed still, posing for about 15 minutes. Long enough to enjoy its colourful presence. Long enough to remind us that sometimes it is the things least expected which bring us joy and enlightenment.

The Psalmist tells us to be still and wait patiently for God to drop by.

There is a Taizé song, Wait for the Lord, sung often in Advent, but appropriate to think about at any time (or even sing!) when we long for God or for a sign of his presence.

The Taizé song tells us that God’s day is always near. His presence is close to us but we must prepare our hearts to receive him and clear away all the things that might get in the way and stop us meeting Him. His ‘Glory’ is rightly portrayed often as an amazing display of God’s holiness which is a shewing of God’s presence. It’s posh name is from the Greek, Theophany. An obvious example is the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Holy Mountain. A spectacular event but personally it is when we see God not with our eyes but in our hearts where God reveals himself in a special way. It may be an awesome thing but it is a source of rejoicing because, as the Taizé song and Joyce’s kingfisher tells us, those who seek and wait for God will be rewarded with joy and gladness.

Wait for the Lord, his day is near
Wait for the Lord, be strong take heart
Prepare the way for the Lord
Make a straight path for Him
The Glory of the Lord shall be revealed
All the Earth will see the Lord
Rejoice in the Lord always
He is at Hand
Joy and gladness for all who seek the Lord

P.S. Good luck, Joyce, with the Bittern!