What a lovely time of year this is. We have got all the lovely spring flowers, daffodil, tulips, bluebells, grape hyacinths etc and the trees are in blossom hoping that we don’t get a late frost to spoil them. As I look out my kitchen window, I can see the birds flying around with twigs in their beaks building their nests. I have a yew tree just in front of my window and judging by the number of birds flying in and out there must be a whole housing estate in there. The hedgehogs are back at night for their breakfast and demanding their favourite food. The days are long and mostly warm. You have probably guessed I love springtime. It is a time of promise of all to come. The later flowers will all soon start to be arriving. I love that excitement of when I am weeding the borders and suddenly see something sprouting up through the ground. I do tend to forget where I have planted things, so it is quite a surprise when they suddenly reappear and then I try and guess what they are. It would be lovely to be able to spend my day just watching the wildlife and listening to the birds chirping and contemplating the world. Many years ago, we had religious hermits who would spend their days in this sort of way, but we also had anchorites that removed their access to the distractions of the beauties of the outside world and lived their lives in a cell contemplating God. Julian of Norwich was such a person. She lived in a cell in Norwich after having several visions when she had been critically ill. She wrote many religious books and had lots of sayings that are regularly quoted. I think my favourite is ‘all shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well,’ I like the belief that all will be well both with myself but also the world. Different means of communicating with God work for different people but I find being surrounded by his creation works best for me.
God Bless
Maureen Kendall