Flowers are Nature's Laughter

Such a gorgeous quotation this week, by the poet James Henry Leigh Hunt: "Colours are the smiles of Nature, and flowers are her laughter." It was illustrated by a gorgeous photo of (I think) apple blossom...

In this time of fear and physical isolation, it has been lovely to go out for my daily allowed walk, and to see the beauties of Nature unfolding in front of my eyes. Just before we were confined to the village, my husband and I went for a walk at Castle Ashby and saw these two beautiful magnolias, which will now be blossoming unseen by any except the gardeners...

And just around our village, there are beautiful flowers blooming in the Spring sunshine, whether in the hedgerows...

or in neighbours' gardens, which have lifted my heart so much...

It seems as though Nature is putting on a show to keep us cheerful, and to help us to stick to the rules and stay at home and stay safe.

Flowers are Nature's laughter. Even reading that made me smile. Every time I see a flower blooming I will smile right back at it. I've noticed a new influx of nature photos on Facebook - it seems that other people have had the same idea. And some people have commented that my photos have cheered them up too.

This current situation is deeply scary. And it's okay to admit that we are scared. Nothing like this has happened on this scale for very many years. It helps me, when I remind myself how much worse it would be, if we didn't have so many other ways of communicating - by phone, by e-mail and through social media. Not to mention conference call virtual meetings, which many Unitarian churches and chapels are experimenting with. I am grateful for all the ingenious ways people are coming up with at keeping in touch with each other, and for the IT facilities which enable them.

I had some fun yesterday... I had my first Face Time piano lesson. My piano teacher and I each sat at our pianos, linked by our iPads, and it worked really well. She could see my fingers as I played, and hear what was happening. And I could see and hear her demonstrating how it *should* be done :)

And the idea of clapping the NHS was a fabulous one! I'll finish with a prayer, which I'm using in weekly online services for my District:

Spirit of Life and Love,
Be with us as we gather for worship,
each in their own place.
Help us to feel a sense of community,
even though we are physically apart.
Help us to care for each other,
in this difficult time,
keeping in touch however we can,
and helping each other,
however we may.
We hold in our hearts all those
whose lives have been touched,
in whatever way,
by the coronavirus and the fall-out from it.
Amen

Love Opens Doors

Rabindranath Tagore, the Bengali poet and short-story writer (among other talents) wrote, "Whoever does good, knocks on the door; whoever loves, finds it open."

As we all hunker down to live our new lives under COVID-19, I have been encouraged and uplifted by the amount of good deeds and loving that is going on in the world, in my neighbourhood and in my country.

To be sure, there are still some selfish people, who are operating from places of scarcity and fear, who are hoarding toilet rolls and pasta, in deep fear of an almost entirely fictitious Armageddon. But most of the people I know, both online and in person, are taking a far more pragmatic, and un-selfish approach to life. Unitarian ministers and lay worship leaders / congregation leaders are producing online resources to share with their congregations, coming up with ingenious ways to keep in touch with them while the physical distancing rules are in force, and generally trying to do their best in very difficult circumstances.  I have found the willingness, even eagerness, of the fit and healthy, to care for the less fortunate among us, very heartening.

This virus is undoubtedly the most life-changing thing most of us have come across, in our whole lives. I believe that how we respond to it, both individually, and as a society, will have a great effect on how well we come through it. If we do the best that we can to look after ourselves, support others, or receive support graciously and with gratitude, we will come out of this better and stronger than before. But if we allow fear to overcome common sense, it will be a very long few weeks or months.

Yes, there are things we cannot control - how long this will last, its effects on the economy, and on our individual lives. Yes, we are afraid for the well-being of our loved ones. But there are also things we can control - mainly our own attitudes, our willingness to take each day as it comes, sensible adherence to the physical distancing regulations (because this is not about "social" distancing at all - there are many other ways to keep in touch) and to do our best to remain as positive as we can, and get through this somehow.

Bright blessings to all my readers - may you be well, may you be happy, may you be free from harm, may you find peace. Amen

Nature goes Deep

The French artist and Post-Impressionist painter, Paul Cézanne, wrote, "Nature does not exist on the surface, it goes deep."

I had to think about this one... If he had written, "not *only*" on the surface, I would have been with him completely. But to say that "nature does not exist on the surface" is puzzling. Because for me, it permeates the whole of creation. The only places where nature does not exist is in completely sterile human-made environments, and even then, given half a chance, it will make its way in.

But yes, oh yes, it goes deep. A deep reverence for Nature is an important part of my faith. Growing out of the fairy tales and legends of my youth, Elsie Proctor's wonder-full book Looking at Nature, and J.R.R. Tolkien's powerful evocations of Middle Earth, I have always found it easiest to sense the presence of God / the Spirit in the natural world. Yet it was not until fairly recently that this reverence for natural beauty became integrated into the rest of my spiritual life.

This started in early 2009, when I did a module on my second Open University course, called Belief Beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic Spirituality and the New Age. I was particularly fascinated by contemporary Celtic spirituality, and have gone on to learn much more about it. I was introduced to the concept of the Wheel of the Year, and to the notion that we (and all living things) move through life in a cyclical rather than a linear manner, in which the dark side is to be welcomed as an important part of the process.

At around the same time, I also came across A Guide to the Sacraments by Christian theologian, John Macquarrie, which reinforced my belief that the whole of the universe could be sacramental. He explained that rather than God's presence being limited to either two or seven sacraments, God has so arranged matters that the material world can "become a door or channel of communication through which he comes to us and we may go to him." For this reason, "man's spiritual wellbeing demands that he should recognise and cherish the visible things of the world as things that are made by God and that provide access to God."

This way of perceiving the world demands that we believe that God is not only transcendent, the one-time creator of the universe, but also immanent - being in the world and acting through it. In other words, we are always in the presence of the Divine, in whom we live and move and have our being. Macquarrie also writes about material things such as stars, mountains and even cities, as "doors to the sacred."

Then I discovered the Celtic mystic, poet and theologian John O'Donohue, whose love for the Irish landscape of his birth flows richly through all his writings. One of his books in particular, Divine Beauty: the Invisible Embrace, helped me to appreciate with my heart, not just my head, how deeply God is present in the earth, in the sky, in the landscape.

Nature does indeed go deep.

Calm, Never Restless or Impatient

This week's quotation is by Henry David Thoreau, friend of Emerson, and Transcendentalist writer. "The wise man is calm, never restless or impatient. He is completely present to every moment."

I wonder whether he was being aspirational, when he wrote this. Because the Thoreau I have read about believed in throwing himself in to life, in experiencing it deeply. Here is a famous quotation from Walden:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."

The words "calm, never restless or impatient" remind me more of the Buddha, when he had achieved Enlightenment. Free from desires and suffering, he had discovered true calm.

It is a rare gift, this quality of calm. Brené Brown calls it a "super-power". She defines it as "creating perspective and mindfulness while managing emotional reactivity." Because remaining calm in an anxious situation can help to defuse the anxiety, whereas a panicked response will escalate it. It's about counting to ten before responding. It's about not believing every Facebook meme you see and instantly reacting to it, but rather going to the source and discovering the true story.

My favourite advice of hers about calm is the two questions she has learned to ask herself before responding to any situation:

1 "Do I have enough information to freak out?"
2 Even if the answer to question 1 is "yes", "Will freaking out help?"

The answer is always, always "no".

Being "calm, never restless or impatient" is wise advice, something we should all aspire to. If I am getting wound up about something, it helps if I breathe, slowly and quietly. And run through the words of the beautiful Celtic prayer:

Deep Peace of the running waves to you.

Deep Peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep Peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.