My friend Gill Henwood sent me this photograph today of a double rainbow over Hawkshead in the Lake District.
It brought to mind a Lenten Prayer which tells of the mystery of God and the revelation of creative power. The rainbow is an amazing example of that! There is another message which is pertinent to the season of Lent which is a contrasting of the beautiful awakening of Spring and the celebration of new life with the negativity of human life right now.
Though we are a key part of creation (though by no means all of it!), there is a wonder and breathtaking beauty all around us of which we could so easily miss. It is only when we recognize and pay homage to God our creator that the hope of the earth springing to vibrant life becomes new joy for us. The darkness of human deeds is eclipsed when we put our trust and faith in God who re-creates us and the whole world, from within.The whole earth cries ‘Glory!’ We are bidden to join in.

The prayer-poem is by Ruth Burgess and Chris Polhill from their collection of Lent and Easter resources, ‘Eggs and Ashes’, published by Wild Goose Publications (Iona)

[Mr G}

Mysterious God,
morning, noon and night reveal your creative power;
around us the whole earth cries glory.
Your presence beats in our blood, children of creation!
Yet we go on our way, deaf to the larks above the track,
looking down into the mud and not up into the clear sky.
And even then, we miss the myriad small signs of hope:
the crocus opening its heart to the sun,
colours of sea-washed stones, rainbows in the midst.
we despair so easily.
We say: ‘where is God in all this?’
and we deny it has any meaning.
We say: ‘God is dead.’
We cannot find or feel the pulse of your life in us.
We put our shaky faith in things we have made,
we give cringing power to the institutions.
we give up on ourselves, saying ‘We are no good’.
we live in ways that says: ‘There is no God.’
And the song of creation turns to dust and ashes on our lips.
Forgive us.
Dust we are – and to dust we shall return.

But, in Jesus, you chose to share our human frailty,
to enter into our mortality in all its mystery,
to redeem this handful of dust.
We are yours – and to you we shall return.
Amen.

~ Ruth Burgess & Chris Polhill ~

{Wild Goose Publications give permission for non-commercial use of material from
‘Eggs & Ashes’, copyright Ruth Burgess & Chris Polhill.
The full collection together with many other excellent resources and publications
are available from Wild Goose Publications, the publishing arm of the Iona Community.
Please visit their website for further details.]