The Splendour of Gardens

 The 18th century "woman of letters" (as Wikipedia describes her), Madame de Staël, once wrote, "The splendour of gardens has the love of nature as a prerequisite."

This quotation instantly reminded me of the words by Dorothy Frances Gurney, the English hymn writer and poet, which my grandfather wrote in my autograph book when I was a little girl:

"The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth - 

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth."

He was a great gardener, my grandfather. Just after World War II, he and my grandmother moved into a huge Victorian house in Woolton, having never seen inside it, on the strength of loving the gardens. I blogged about their adventure here.

Sadly, I have never been a gardener myself. I love admiring other people's gardens, enjoy visiting the beautiful gardens and grounds of stately homes, and watch Gardener's World every week. But I find actual gardening rather too much like hard work.

But I do have the love of nature the quotation by Madame de Staël speaks of. Nothing lifts my heart, restores my soul, so quickly as being out in the natural world, whether that is up in the mountains, by the sea or in my beloved Salcey Forest. There is something wonderful - wonder-full in the true sense of that word - about nature. Its astonishing complexity, its simple beauty - these nourish the deepest parts of me and I have often written about it in this blog. There is something about being away from people, being surrounded by the glories of nature that brings me back into balance, with myself, with the Divine.

And that is a blessing.