Art, imagination and Prayer

Seamus Heaney in his poem ‘Skylight’ describes how, despite his loving his Irish cottage’s cosy, claustrophobic almost nestlike feeling, goes along with his wife’s suggestion of having a skylight made:

‘But when the slates came off, extravagant sky entered

And held surprise wide open.

For days I felt like an inhabitant of that house

Where the man sick of the palsy

Was lowered through the roof,

Had his sins forgiven,

Was healed, took up his bed

And walked away.’

Imagination is like this, it can open up our lives, especially when we feel isolated, enclosed at this time.

Albert Einstein said ‘imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand’.

Oxford Professor of biophysics, Robert Gilbert, a priest, describes science as spirituality in overalls and Jennifer Yarne describes art as ‘spirituality in drag’ – breaking the boundaries with exuberance.

As Sr Wendy Beckett said; “My love for art is for me a way of loving God. I do not usually speak of Him explicitly since religious language can sometimes put people off. But art is essentially beauty that draws us into the truth of our own being, and whenever we have truth and beauty, we have God. This does not have to be spelt out: it simply happens.

For me, it even seems that art can expose parts of the self I was not aware of, so there is more of me laid bare for God to possess. Art is a way of making me human, and you cannot pray unless you are rooted in the truth of your own humanity. Prayer is never an escape but the opposite, an exposure. The real self is held out to the real God, and any pretence or lack of reality makes the whole exercise futile. …’.

During this time there are many extra opportunities to grow and deepen our spirituality and novels, plays, poetry, music and art can set off our imagination and act as that skylight and extravagant sky entering once again into our world.

A Policeman Reflects

PC Gary Bentley Chair of the Hertfordshire Christian Police Association writes;

The last few months have been difficult for all of us and for a variety of reasons; extreme weather and the devastating effects of this, mental health issues in the public eye, the uncertainty of Brexit even though we have now (kind of) left, Covid-19 and the impact of this not just nationally but worldwide. There has been a lot to take in and that is not even considering the stuff happening to us personally.

So coupled with the events that have been piling up, with the sense of frustration and anger that many feel, life can sometimes lose perspective and little things boil over into bigger ones; we get annoyed over trivial things, we argue when it would be better to listen, we are keen to impress our opinion when that other person doesn’t necessarily need to hear it, we forget to look inside instead of just outward.

My Christian friends continue meanwhile to go through life seemingly on an even keel, the waters around them apparently un-rippled, taking life in their stride and everything that is thrown at them. What some of them have been going through has been awful and I would not want to experience myself, but they always remain faithful to the Lord and just carry on praying and asking for prayer. They don’t blame others, they don’t moan about how unfair life is, they know God has a plan and that He is beside them all the way. Oh how I wish I could be more like them sometimes!

As James 1:19 puts it

“…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”.

So whatever life is throwing your way, be sure of one thing; He is with you, He has put you here and He will never leave you.

Isaiah 41:10

“fear thou not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; yea I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.”

John 16:33

“These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Heavenly Father, 

Thank You for the love you have for us; for filling the hearts of emergency workers, care workers and others in life at this moment who are putting themselves at risk to protect and help others. Help us to remember that in the midst of all this uncertainty, this frustration and fear, You have a plan for all of us and that as much as we possibly can, we take this time to reflect and to appreciate what we have been given by Your Grace.

I pray for the world’s leaders and scientific experts as they make difficult decisions, that they will be guided by You and they will not take the easy path but the right path, to lead the world and their countries out of lockdown and into some sense of normality. I pray for patience, understanding and unity among the world’s population as they react to these decisions.

Remind us to keep talking to each other, to contact the lonely and to help the isolated. May we continue to adhere to the lockdown rules, to protect each other and the NHS and above all, live by Your Word.

Remembering

Today at 11.00am during a minute’s silence we are remembering the NHS and care workers who have died as a result of caring for those with Covid 19 virus. The NHS, carers and other frontline staff have worked selflessly to care for others often working very long, difficult shifts to save lives and to protect us.

Our Cathedral holds the shrine of St Alban, the first Christian martyr in Britain 

who, having sheltered a Christian priest who was fleeing from persecution, was so moved by his faith he became a Christian himself and decided to swap clothes with the priest. Almost immediately, Alban was arrested as he was assumed to be the priest. When asked who he was, Albans replied, ‘I am a Christian and I stand ready to do my duty’.  Rowan Williams comments in his latest book Luminaries that our duty is not just to people who happen to be with us now but to a future community in which all, friends and strangers, have their place.   

St Paul said:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Phil  2: 3-4.

So we like Alban and all those who died for our future will remember all called to be faithful to the future, in our present isolation and afterwards, a future of harmony and reconciliation with creation.

Prayers – For the Health Service

O God, we thank you for our healthcare systems and those who work in it.  

We pray for our NHS staff and healthcare workers who through their love and compassion, have given their lives to care for others. We hold before you their families and friends in their grief and loss. We pray for those who have to make difficult decisions about resources or treatments, that they will do so with care and integrity. Lord help us all to serve others and live lives that serve the community and everyone’s future.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Prayer for Carers, Nurses and Doctors

Lord Jesus, who healed the sick and gave them new life,

be with doctors, nurses and carers, as they act as agents of your healing touch.

In desperate times, keep them strong yet loving;

and when their work is done,

be with them in their weariness and in their tears that they may find peace and strength to carry on for everyone’s future.

A Mother's Union Perspective

Dorothy Toyn writes: 

I am very proud to the leader of All Saints’ Mothers Union – a role I had before when the MU restarted at All Saints when Bill & Jean Kemm first arrived in the Parish in the early 90’s. Several of us had helped with the Toddler Group and we decided we needed a group we could continue to go to ‘After Toddlers’, and that group became the reborn MU at All Saints!

We had a good programme of events planned for this year and our talk about Swifts in February filled the Memorial Chapel to bursting – literally, with standing room only! Probably more people at that one meeting than we have at all our meetings put together! We might be a very small cog but we are part of a mighty organisation of 4 million people across the world (and not just ‘mothers’!) working across the world supporting families. I have just looked at the vast number of resources on their website to assist at the present time including ‘Thinking of You’ cards with an uplifting prayer and space for a little message. A simple way to reach out to neighbours, friends and family to show them you are thinking and praying for them.  

Being away from family and friends at this time is tough for us all – worrying about family members you cannot meet and hug. I am so very impressed at the number of people mastering new technology at this time, and it does mean that you can keep in touch. Being a mother is a never ending task, however old they are you still worry about them, and I think more so now when we hope they are staying healthy and safe. We have had our fair share of family dramas, and my faith has always helped me get through them – even when the days were so very dark, and many at All Saints prayed and shared those days with us in 2001. I always believed that we would get through things and I have a magnet on my fridge that reminds me daily “Faith is not knowing that God can, but believing that he will”. Many people now have a reversed role of caring for their elderly parents and this too is as worrying as caring for little ones – even more so at present. We need to keep praying and “believing that he will”, even when the odds seem stacked against us.

I am writing this knowing that our baby Granddaughter is due to be born in 6 days, so exciting but heartrending also as I know we will not be able to cuddle her for many months. However, it is something that needs to happen, and we must pray for the many, many people in similar situations for much worse reasons than ours…

Loving Lord,

we pray for your love and compassion to abound as we walk though this challenging season.

Think of some practical ways that you can show God’s love and compassion at this time

We ask for wisdom for those who bear the load of making decisions with widespread consequences.

Take a moment to pray for those in positions of influence at local, national and international levels

We pray for those who are suffering with sickness and for all who are caring for them

Pray particularly for any known to you personally, including those who work in the health profession

We ask for protection for the elderly and vulnerable to not succumb to the risks of virus.

Consider if there is anything helpful you can do for those in this category – shopping or other errands?

We pray for misinformation to be curbed that fear may take no hold in hearts and minds.

Take any opportunity to reassure those who are feeling anxious by what they have seen or read.

As we exercise the good sense that you in your mercy provide may we also approach each day in faith and peace, trusting in the truth of your goodness towards us. Amen

Give thanks to God for his constant presence with us through every circumstance of life

Emmaus

The disciples recalled that Jesus made their hearts “burn within them” as they met him as a stranger on the road to Emmaus, talking with them about their experiences. Fr Timothy Radcliffe comments in his book, Alive in God, that most art, novels, films poetry explore life but Christianity makes people’s hearts burn within them just as he did with the disciples on their way to Emmaus.

Christianity is not a moral code to keep us in order but a vibrant way of life. The encounter with Jesus is one which is life giving. It rolls away the stone, keeping us locked into ourselves and overcomes our deepest fear. The disciples followed Jesus’ call on an adventure that leads them to from joy and amazement to the utter desolation of death on the cross to be propelled to the ends of the known earth to share this life giving love of God.

We can live this amazing adventure in a solitary place, rather as a monastic order might do, or in a family. We can have hilaritas as St Augustine put it, an exuberant joy which takes us out of ourselves, our locked in lives and releases us to live lives to the full by sharing God’s love with others.

Where shattered hearts are made whole,
where wounded souls are healed,
where life is stronger than death:
there, the stone has been rolled away.

Where the lonely become our friends,
where a stranger is welcomed home,
where hope is stronger than despair,
there, we find Jesus walking.

Where closed minds and hearts are opened,
where the anxious find serenity,
where love is stronger than hate:
there, Jesus is opening our eyes.

The stone has been rolled away!
Jesus is our companion on the journey!
Our eyes are opened to the needs of others!
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Alleluia! Christ is with us!

Amen

Celebration

It was my Mum’s birthday yesterday, she was 86. Somehow, over the years her birthdays have become increasingly important to her and she has always made a big celebration of them. I think that this year she was really worried that nothing would happen, that it would be just another dreary lockdown day for her in Holland, with not much fun to be had on her own.

In the morning, she looked out of her front window, someone had put a whole lot of bunting up, the doorbell then rang and she hurried, yes she ought to have walked calmly as befits her age but this is my Mum, to the door to be greeted by singing and a trumpeter playing lang zal ze leven in de gloria, the Dutch birthday song. Her great nephew had arranged for his children  to sing and play for her to greet her with cards and flowers. Mum then sat, on a chair in her front garden and was then inundated by cards delivered, huge bouquets of tulips,  parcels arrived with presents and in between she received a great many phone calls and many portions of Dutch apple tart and cream were consumed by well wishers and passers by! At the end of the day Mum had a house full of flowers, presents and memories of that sweet musical beginning of her special day along with the sense of being much loved not only by family but also her neighbours and friends. It was probably one of her best birthdays ever.

It’s all too easy to forget to celebrate or feel that we won’t bother, we can celebrate still either by ourselves or at a distance with others, over the phone or on screen with others. Young people, separated from others sometimes watch a film together online and, using their phones, comment and discuss with one another as the plot unwinds.

Jesus celebrated with his friends right up to the end, celebration and festival is a vital part of Church life, so let’s not forget to celebrate take up any opportunity we can. We are in the six weeks’ celebration of Easter, a celebration of joy, forgiveness and life.

Jesus,  Bread of Life,
Reaching out in love to us,
so we may touch others;
filling us with your gifts,
so we can be a blessing to the world;
scattering our darkness with hope,
so we might bring joy,
We give thanks for all that we have

And we celebrate your love.

Waiting

Geoff Oates Hertford Team Lay Reader reflects: 

The Church calendar presents Lent, the weeks before Easter, as a time of waiting and preparing. But the biblical narrative is quite different. The weeks before Easter are full of frantic activity as Jesus and his growing band of supporters travel down to Jerusalem.

The waiting begins afterwards. The four Gospels give very different accounts of the weeks that follow the Easter event, but John paints a picture that might speak best to our times. There is little sign of joy or hope, but rather uncertainty and fear. The disciples shut themselves away behind closed doors, lest the authorities come rounding up suspected accomplices (John 20 v 19). They try to make sense of all that has happened, but they don’t make much progress. It’s easy for us, we’ve read to the end of the story. We already have a date for Pentecost. We know when their lock down ends.

But step by step the disciples move forward. Locked doors cannot shut out our anxieties, but nor can they shut out or hopes. It is Jesus, and not the Jewish authorities, who appears amongst them with a  greeting of peace, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

As many of us have learned in the past weeks, the Grace of our Lord Jesus, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit flow freely through the most unexpected new channels. When it is all over, stone walls, that have so often served as barriers as well as shelters to God’s people, may look less important than we thought.

Here and Now

                         

Doug writes 

There are many suggestions around of what to do to pass the time and even improve ourselves during the lockdown. Many artists have placed plays and concerts on streaming services such as YouTube. I was pleased to see that The Globe and the National Theatre offer free plays – I loved Hamlet and One Man- Two Guvnors and I am now looking forward to Romeo and Juliet.

Musically too, there is so much to hear, and there can be such beauty. Along with yesterday’s comments there are many other fascinating and encouraging items. If you want some heavenly harmony, the album Fading by the Gesualdo Six is utterly beautiful, very spiritual and comforting, with a brilliant blend of old and new church music (downloadable – or samples - from Hyperion Records).

Absolutely brilliant too is the new album by the Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson, “Debussy Rameau”, which intertwines music by these two composers who lived two centuries apart. The music is excellent, and the sound quality is superb. It can be streamed, and if you don’t join a subscription site then Spotify plays it free provided you can endure adverts (which I can’t!). Olafsson is Gramophone’s Artist of the Year, and his Bach and Glass albums are also highly recommended to transport us to another place.

Olafsson said in a recent interview that he doesn’t think of classical music as old, it is contemporary for him. Although Bach and Rameau wrote their music centuries ago, they would never have heard it as we now do as the instruments available were very different and the situation in which the music was played was – simply – then, not now. He sees the playing of the music as absolutely contemporary as he performs and offers it.

It struck me that our faith needs to be utterly contemporary too, based as it is on past writings and experiences. What is this for us today, how do I live as a Christian now? We cannot live as though we were in the Middle Ages, the Dark Ages or indeed at the time of Christ. Indeed there would be some drawbacks if we did, judging by history. We are here, now, faced with a new global situation. On a personal level we can simply rely on God’s presence as ever, yet the way we see the world as inter-connected, as a global community, can lead us to consider how we foster a sense of caring among the nations, how we engage with the insights of science, how we see the love of God and love of neighbour expressed in this world where one community’s issues can affect everyone, for good or ill? And can we affirm that our faith is not bogged down in the past, backward-looking, but contemporary and engaged through prayer and action with the future of life on this planet?

Here comes the Sun

I have really appreciated hearing the song Here Comes The Sun by the Beatles recently. It is being played on the radio frequently as a positive, optimistic “anthem” in these difficult times of lockdown I recommend it, and I have asked my husband Doug – who engaged with Beatlemania in his early years, I was a little too late – to add his thoughts on this.

Thank you Jo. Yes, this song deserves to be heard because it is cheering in a time when emerging from difficulty, which we hope and pray we are. George Harrison composed it, and it speaks of coming through a long, cold, lonely winter. The loneliness is likely to speak to many of us as we miss contact with loved ones and with our church community. But we will come through this, though we may have to carry something of this weight for a long time yet.

George Harrison was not the main Beatles composer, but he really began to blossom towards the end of their time together. Abbey Road featured not just Here Comes the Sun but also Something, which became a standard which even Frank Sinatra – who hated rock music – recorded. George also provided the remarkable Within You, Without You which graced the Sergeant Pepper album, using Indian instrumentation with a spiritual, Hindu theme which has sentiments I think we could all agree with. It begins with “We were talking about the space between us all” as we all are at present. He then chants about “the love we all could share”, and the people “who gain the world and lose their soul” (who said that first?) finishing with the sunny belief that “the time will come when you see we’re all one”.

George soon went on to record his classic album “All things must pass”, the title track putting us in touch with our mortality, with other songs such as Beware of Darkness (falling into evil ways) and, of course, My Sweet Lord. His faith had a different focus to ours but there is a great deal which we hold in common, and qualities of living in the light, of hope and love are ones we all need to hold onto closely in these challenging times and throughout our lives. From darkness to light is a theme we often use in church, and at Evensong we pray “Lighten our darkness”: with faith and trust in God we can have confidence and like the sunrise after a dark, threatening night of uncertainty and fear, we rejoice that here comes the sun, it’s alright.

                                             

Lord Jesus, Light of the World, shine in our hearts and minds to dispel our fear and doubt. Risen Lord, who overcame sin and death by rising early on Easter morning, triumph over all our human folly and inadequacy. By your Spirit at work in us, may we live in the light and share your light.

As we rejoice in the gift of each new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you, now and for ever. Amen.

Lord of all, we pray for all people who are suffering, all who are lonely or bereaved - and all who have to risk their lives for others. Hold them, hold us, within your eternal love and help us to seek and find that light in the darkness which you alone can give. Amen

Another wave

Rev Doug continues:

Many of us are watching more television during the lockdown, and we just came across a programme on BBC i-player (How Art Began - highly recommended!) in which the artist Antony Gormley seeks out the earliest human art on the planet. Deep inside French and Spanish caves he finds ancient paintings of animals, beautifully rendered, sometimes in hunting scenes but often simply as images of beauty. It really makes him, and perhaps us, think about our human place on this planet – and in time and eternity.

Among the images there are handprints, much larger in scale, of a hand waving. It seems likely this is the artist’s hand, and it is done as with a stencil, by placing the hand on the wall and blowing the primitive - and very lasting - paint onto the hand and wall. It is as if the artist is waving hello down the centuries.

This has been thought to be some of the earliest human art, but Gormley moves to South-East Asia where, at 60,000 years old, there are similar marks and drawings which are twice the age of the European paintings. How amazing and moving that the human greeting is there from such a long time past. It evoked in us a sense of wonder that our ancestors are “waving at us”, and that they obviously felt a need to express themselves in this way at such an early stage in human history. That sense of wonder is important in our spiritual understanding of people and of our world

Antony Gormley, who is not a man of religious faith, found the ancient expressions of human identity almost sacred. The wave suggests a long-term continuity and connectedness. The need to express oneself artistically speaks of a desire for beauty and establishing one’s identity. For us today, it can be like the psalmist saying “I will lift up my eyes to the hills” to seek a higher power, and a clearer meaning. Life feels fragile at the moment, but the human race has come through so much over the millennia. Looking forward and looking up to our Creator will hopefully bring our world community closer together. For those who have waved at each other are brought closer, and feeling our humanity and mortality can lead us to know our need of God so that we can say, humbly looking up, “My help comes from the Lord of heaven and earth” (Ps. 121).

Wave to each other

Canon Jo asked me to write this blog, she loves gardens but what about something different? Well, I like gardens, but I love music.

Some of you will remember that for a big Doug birthday we held a concert at All Saints, the guest musician being the saxophonist David Jackson, who I first heard in 1970 on the first Van der Graaf album. I didn’t understand it, but I loved it. It hit home, and I still love their work.

So yesterday we were zooming the Family Eucharist on the internet, and I expected to simply wish everyone Peace at the appropriate time. But into my mind came the title of that first album “The least we can do is wave to each other”, so having wished everyone peace I quoted the title. What a wonderful set of happy faces suddenly came up on the screen – peace, love, connectedness, care, all felt mediated by the wave shared.

The LP title comes from a phrase coined by the 20^th century British artist John Minton: “We are all awash in a sea of blood and the least we can do is wave to each other”. It speaks to our present times, doesn’t it, with death tolls announced daily in our land and across the world, and ongoing concerns about the further spread of this virus. We are awash, and perhaps more aware of our common human plight than ever.

The interconnectedness through social media, the caring gesture, the 8.00pm clap and noise for our essential workers, are all part of the waving, the sharing of human engagement and solidarity in our present situation. And our faith has a crucified Saviour whose suffering radiates to us across the centuries, an eternal statement of God’s sacrificial love, and the empty tomb brings us to the hope of a new future for us and for all people. 

Rev Doug Loveridge 

Creation: a Sabbath rest

God, we need peace – so we come to creation for quiet.

We need joy – so we come to creation for our senses —
the green of leaf,
the rich crumbling smell of soil,
and the scent of pine needle,
the sounds of small life, of squirrel and bird,
that come and go in all places natural,
the rough texture of gravel, the delicacy of a flower petal.

We need to let things go – so we come to creation for rest,
and we need to let people go,
so we come to creation to remember them.

We need hope – so we come to creation to watch things grow

Parks and gardens remind us to be planters
and to enjoy what others have planted.

We need space where we can begin to let Sabbath in our lives.
We need paths to help us recognize our own journeys.
We need a justice commitment to environment,
a global commitment that calls us to action,
but we also need a small square of real earth
to root our lives and to get our hands dirty.

We need community – so we come to creation, parks and gardens
to give and receive a shared blessing,
to give and receive a shared blessing
from the hand of the Sower of seeds. Amen

Walking

Helen Briggs writes about her daily walk in Hertford.

I delight in the daily opportunity to marvel at the Spring as it unfolds, showing amazing new life bringing joy into our troubled virus-ridden world. I find peace listening to the water as it travels downstream giving an opportunity for reflection

It was during our walks that we first met Mrs. Coot a few weeks ago when she and Mr. Coot began building their nest. They have now become the highlight of our new routine. I feel like an honorary godmother to the seven chicks! And I would like to share a few photos of the family’s history with you. I must also add that Mr. Coot has been a most attentive and diligent provider throughout. He is now sharing the role of swimming instructor, as well as extending the nest so he can sit with Mrs. Coot on the nest with the chicks.

Canon Jo adds: How uplifting. And even when we are limited in our movements we can still focus on the good and beautiful things in life, lifting up our eyes to a higher power who loves us mightily and eternally.

“Father, thank you for the many beauties in nature, for people at their best who will continue their caring despite the danger, for Captain Tom Moore who at 99 has walked round his garden to raise funds (now £20m) for the NHS and to care for us all, for The Coot family – and for the family of God to which we belong now and always. Amen”

Boredom: Rev Bill Church writes

Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

We received a nice postcard from one of our grandchildren, saying that they were getting bored with staying at home. I am getting bored too.

My previous  reaction would have been to see boredom as a sub-branch of the sin of Sloth, together with procrastination, despair and laziness.

But I read an article in the New Scientist which claimed boredom was a useful evolutionary mechanism. When ancient humans got bored, they were encouraged to try doing something new, and that something might have turned out to be useful.

I see the point. I have been trying new things to cook (no sniggers, please, from real cooks in the congregation).

Have any of them turned out to be useful enough to be repeated?

Wholemeal cheese scones – definitely.

Cherry flan – maybe.

Kimchi – well, let’s put that one down to experience.

However much I look forward to real congregations again, there will be things we have learned from Covid which will be useful and worth repeating.
                                        Rev Bill Church is also now a full time carer.

Teach me my God and King,

In all things thee to see;

And what I do in anything

To do it as for thee.

All may of thee partake;

Nothing can be so mean

Which with this tincture “for thy sake”

Will not grow bright and clean.

A servant with this clause

Makes drudgery divine;

Who sweeps a room as for thy laws

Makes that and the action fine.

George Herbert

Dorothy reflects from her garden

                                                                 Dorothy's garden on Palm Sunday 

Dorothy Toyn offers her take on Flowers & Gardening

Last week was very odd for me – normally I would be planning what flowers to buy for Easter for All Saints, asking for helpers, and planning who is doing what and where. This year, gardenwise, I was going to be extra busy as I had entered the ‘Bengeo Cottage Garden Society’ show which this year was to be on Easter Saturday. Would my daffodils last long enough and if so what class are they, do I have any blossom good enough to enter and what are the tulips doing? What flower arrangements can I do… I had it all planned out: prepare the church flowers, do my competition arrangements on Friday night and get them to the hall in Bengeo first  thing Saturday, then come to All Saints to arrange flowers for Easter, before going back to help at the show.

Instead, I was in my garden reflecting on the current circumstances, the problems, the beauty of nature, the glorious weather and how grateful I am that I have a garden at this time and that I love gardening. I grew up with 2 acres of garden in Broxbourne where I learned what to do from my grandfather and parents. My garden is looking good because I have the time to be out there tending it. While this time is so difficult; our prayers are for those who are so unwell and to the amazing people caring for them, those isolating (including close friends) and those so frightened, you need to look at the positives to be able to cope – the birdsong, wildlife, new life as the leaves unfurl and seeds begin to grow.

I have always loved the hymn  ‘All things bright & beautiful ‘– especially working in the garden and finding all the little bugs and creatures,  and it reminds me of David and Dani’s glorious and happy wedding nearly 2 years ago now.

‘All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All Things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all’

While visiting a lady through work last year I saw this wonderful  ‘gardeners’ version’. These are just a couple of verses…

‘But what we never mention,

Though gardeners know it’s true,

That when he made the good things,

He made the baddies too.

The greenfly in the roses,

The maggots in the peas.

Manure that fills our noses,

He also gave us these.’

Life is not always a bed of roses and we have to put up with what life throws at us (generally, and in the garden) but staying positive and looking for the best in things. I dearly hope the Lord will help us to find something new and good from all of this…

Canon Jo offers this prayer 

Oh Lord Jesus
true gardener
work in us what you want of us,
For you are indeed the true gardener
at once, maker and tiller
and keeper of your garden
you who plant with the word,
water with the spirit
and give your increase
with your power.

Cisterician Guerric of Igny 12th century