Beauty surrounds us, but we usually need to be walking in a garden to know it - Rumi
Over the winter we talked about replacing the worn out lawn and renewing the old broken and the dangerously sunken stone paths. Once upon a time we would have been happy to tackle that job ourselves but as we are getting on a bit we decided to get a professional firm to do the work. “I’m away for a few days but will ring you when I get back” Bill said when we rang him. Some months later he turned up on the doorstep saying that he could start this week but realised that he hadn’t phoned us or actually seen the job to price it. He did so then and there with the result that Ron and Dave turned up and set to work at 8.00am this morning. Work has finally started; not really the best time since the plants are coming into bloom, but we need the work done. Anyway as we have used the company before we know they provide a good quality of work. A new and safer garden is in prospect. I’m sure it will be fine when completed it’s just the hassle of getting it done.
Ron brought his son along to help which means they will have some father/son time together. That will be a good thing since sometimes circumstances make it difficult to spend time with family members. Our neighbours fly out to Houston Texas tomorrow to spend time with their daughter and her family, for example. Lent is in its final week –Holy week – so perhaps now is a good time to reflect on what progress we have made with those good intentions we set for ourselves on Ash Wednesday. Of course life goes on at the same hectic pace as before Lent. There is never a convenient time to focus on the task in hand – there is always so much else to do, but how is our relationship with God today? Are we sharing more father/son time with Him than in the past? Has Lent drawn us closer to God our Father each day? Are we allowing God to draw us more deeply into his love? Are we making time to pray to Him but more importantly are we listening to what God has to say to us? In due time the garden will be fine with a new lush lawn and safe paths, but it requires a great deal of hard work to get it into shape; there is no easy way. Likewise if our relationship with God is to flourish we need to put in the hard work, the preparation, the ground work. That means making time in this hectic whirl that is everyday life to pray, to read scripture – not just as a paperback on the flight to Houston - but deeply thinking and praying about God’s Word and its meaning for us. And then putting into action God's Will and Word.
1 Comment
Steve Givens
10/4/2017 03:21:00 pm
Father-son time...what am awesome idea...Have a blessed Holy Week and Easter!
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AuthorI am an Authorised Local Preacher in an Anglo Catholic parish church, in the Diocese of Essex UK Archives
February 2022
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