The Clouds

simplicity // 29
the Clouds

Forgive the self-indulgence: it’s my daughter Betsy-Joy’s first birthday today, and I’m excited.

We gave her the middle name Eveline, after Eve, as we wanted her to remember her family roots. Back in the day, I’m sure Eve was gorgeous, just like her, and full of innocence, and wonder. Sometimes it takes a brand new life to remind us of our ‘original blessing’; of the fact that the story of life starts in Genesis 1 with the Creation, not in Genesis 3 with the Fall.

Whatever Eve and Adam did, exactly, I’m not entirely sure; but they did something that meant that we, as a human family, became disconnected from each other, and God, and the Earth, and we began to expect the worst of each other. “We can’t help it,” people now say. “We’re only human.”

Well, we’re not only anything, of course. (Think of what Jesus made, and re-made, of humanity.) And today, just as I expect the very best of, and for, our daughter, so we can expect the very best of, and for, each other. For we still bear the image – each of us, uniquely – of the Creator, as the Creator’s children.

William Wordsworth knew it, and through these lines in Ode: Intimations of Immortality, he evokes the deep and precious mystery of new life:

‘Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.’

It’s worth remembering, and celebrating, today, birthday or not: we trail clouds.


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Action point:

Try to create an impromptu celebration of (new) life today. Buy some cakes for your colleagues at work; drop something round to a neighbour; send someone a card out of the blue; put on some music loud and dance as if you were 18... Anything, to spread a virus of celebration through this community and into the world around it. :)


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rsvp:

“My husband, who knows I am following this journey but doesn’t know the content of your mails, called to me to come and see our first brimstone in the garden too. A chalky, lemon yellow and fluttering so freely above the salad patch and the newly mown lawn. Inspired, I went outside to sit in the garden for a while and noticed the beautifully gentle buds of soft pink and white on our apple tree and the still closed, colours- hidden buds of the aquilegia. It seems that there has been much promise and hope of new beginnings for me today.” Paula

“I am blessed to live in a beautiful little fishing village in Cornwall. As we walked the half mile into the centre of the village on Friday evening we found many people sprucing up their properties for the expected Easter holidays, windows were being washed, paintwork being refreshed and general scrubbing and polishing. It made me think of two things: of the village awakening from the winter, dusting herself off and stretching, like a cat, in the sun. And it also made me think about a bride preparing for her bridegroom. And it made me glad to the centre of my soul to have survived another winter and to be rewarded with sights such as these.” Andree

“I felt the same elation as Michael McCarthy on seeing the first butterfly of the year. I was enjoying a quiet day at a local church and as I walked through the beautiful churchyard, a butterfly flew in front of me and settled on the ground. It was a Peacock. Butterflies have always been significant for me. On a retreat a few years ago, there were countless Painted Ladies surrounding me on a walk. They signify for me hope and resurrection. The one I saw today was amongst the graves. Later, I saw another, this time a cabbage white. I noticed so many things, having the time to stroll; the first clump of bluebells, shy violets hiding in the shade under a yew tree, a huge bumble bee, buds bursting into leaf, the smell of newly mown grass and the warm sun on my back. It was sheer delight - the ‘unstoppable renewal’. Diana

“Today I was in the garden and saw my first butterfly. A Red Admiral it flew down onto the soil right in front of me and sat with its wings out enjoying the sun for a moment before flying off. It was just beautiful.” Kirsty

“Wow! ‘I make all things new’... From time to time I have found myself actually being jealous of nature in that it is allowed the privilege of re-generating itself year after year, seemingly with no end in sight. Trees that have been witness to so much history and so many generations of people, etc. And here we humans are confined to 70 or so years of life... But when we stop to ponder the big picture, the promise of us being made new means that perhaps we are mere caterpillars awaiting to be re-born into something (someone) so much more beautiful than our "caterpillar minds" can currently comprehend.” Chris

“I wake up around 5am every day in allot of pain. Today when the sun came up I watched the red kites flying in the beautiful blue sky, my mind can escape from the daily pains, to see something so beautiful really inspires me. It reminds me that life is ongoing and renewable, we just need to take a few minutes each day to find some peace within ourselves and share this joy.” Jon

“The Inkling

When the sun dipped and the sea calmed
We walked above the shore
When the woodland rested and the sky deepened
We time-tasted the cooling air
Horses gently close-cropping the grass
Rabbits safe-scampering home
Trees stilling, birds settling
Dew damping, waves lapping
Sun-warmed, dusk-dimming
Green-scented, may-blossom frothed
Weary eyes softening
Tired limbs relaxing
Spring’s peace-offering at the end of the day
And God walks in the garden too.” Sandra

"’Seek beauty within the imperfection of it all’. I didn't have to search long for a piece of imperfect ground - it was waiting for me just outside the door - the area that is yet to make it to the top of the to-do list. I looked at the weeds and tried to find the beauty but I couldn't help thinking that they're weeds because they're not very beautiful. Then out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of colour and sitting there was a humble dandelion, ‘bright shining as the sun’ to quote John Newton! Whilst normally designated as a nuisance and regularly ripped up when the lawn is cut, this tiny bit of God's earth stood resplendent today, and it made me smile!” Andree


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May you make the most of this gift of life, today.
Go well!

Brian
http://www.spiritualintelligence.co.uk