My friend Gill Henwood’s photographs and thoughts regularly appear on this blog. The other day she sent me this photograph of a winter cherry tree at Kew and the thoughts it inspired.

“Here’s a beautiful winter cherry in the Japanese garden at Kew Gardens, yesterday.
The tree is a cloud of delicate blossom in the winter gardens of bare skeletal deciduous trees and dark sombre conifers.
For Gill it speaks to her of “Hope, for peace in the world. Prayers, for Japan and so many places where natural events challenge, and wars destroy. Trust, in the presence of God’s cloud of peace with us, is often unnoticed.
May the gracious, comforting Spirit bring the peace that passes all understanding to sore hearts.”

At a time when intense negotiations are going on about brokering peace in the Ukraine and in the aftermath of Gaza, the photo brings a glimpse of purity in what feels like a dark, sombre and impure world.

What I am constantly hearing and seeing is despair, uncertainty and a sense of futility. The question : What can I do or make a difference, in the sense of not being in a position to affect real change in the International struggles in our world?

Perhaps we could take a more local and personal view.
The late Rabbi Lionel Blue once told a story about meeting  an old-time party member of the Soviet Communist Party. He spoke in tears that the Revolution got hijacked because of personal ambition, greed and power. “We tried to understand society to change it, but we didn’t start with ourselves.”  (Rabbi Blue).

That is where we all can start – with ourselves. We can cultivate gentleness, kindness, care, approach-ability. We can and should stand up for goodness in our society and acceptance of others. Perhaps even a bit more listening to others rather than telling them what they should be like or believe. Above all we should open our hearts to a hope which isn’t just a feeling but a prayer and an action.

A little story I love tells me that one thing we can avoid is believing that we have nothing to contribute to growing peace in our world.

A little sparrow laid on its back with its legs in the air. Another sparrow walked past and asked the sparrow in its back what it was doing. It replied that it had heard that the sky was going to fall in and thought that it should try and help hold it  up. The other sparrow laughed and said, “You’re only a little sparrow with little legs. How can you hold up the whole sky?The little sparrow lying on the floor with its legs in the air, turned its head and said:“I know, but one does what one can.”

Doing what we can is about living in peace and harmony with others and with creatures and the world in which we live. It’s about rejoicing in creation and protecting the part of our world where God has placed us. It’s also about refusing to let our world be taken over by those who would dominate, abuse, bully and live self-centred lives.
It’s about allowing God’s beauty, joy, hope radiate from our lives just as it radiates from the Winter Cherry Tree at Kew.

It’s about praying this prayer, written for world peace in 1978. By praying and seeking to live it out in our lives may we recognizing that we have just increased peace in the world.

A Prayer for World Peace, 1978

We pray for the power to be gentle;
the strength to be forgiving;
the patience to be understanding;
and the endurance to accept the consequences
of holding on to what we believe to be right.

May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil
and the power of love to overcome hatred.

We pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe
in a world emancipated from violence,
a new world where fear shall no longer lead men or women to commit injustice,
nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others.

Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy
to the task of making peace,
praying always for the inspiration and the power
to fulfil the destiny for which we and all men and women were created.

– Author Unknown, Offered by Beth Amyot
published by Xavier University Cinncinati

[Mr G & Gill Henwood. 11th December 2025]