Letter from Sarah - March 2008 March 1, 2008
Posted by hillmansc in Monthly letter from Sarah.trackback
Signs of life
One of the things that I love most about life is that whatever age you are there is always more to learn and discover about the world around.
One of the things I have recently learned and been fascinated by is how traditional hedging is done. Although I grew up in a village with at least five farms, I had never before witnessed hedge-making. The new hedge in Reed churchyard is definitely worth a look. It has brought a wonderful open feel to that part of the graveyard and is a work of craftmanship. (Tip: try going up there when the sun is setting on a clear day - the skies are wonderful.)
In order to make the hedge, a lot of wood needed to be cut down and pruned. At the moment, the hedge looks somewhat bare, but soon the leaves will grow again and it will turn green, and provide shelter and homes for birds and insects alike.
The life that the hedge will foster reminds me a bit of the Christian story of Easter. In order for life to develop in all its fullness, what was there before need chopping away and pruning. Many bits of wood needed removing totally, while others were bent and shaped to enable the hedge to be formed. There was life there before, but the quality of life that the new hedge will bring will be more abundant.
Easter is the season in which Christians celebrate the abundant life of God, brought about through the resurrection. Of course, life existed before then, but we believe that the resurrection enabled us to see more of God’s true life, a life that is positive and embracing of all, a life that is of a quality that only God can bring about.
That life begins with God’s love and acceptance. As I write, the countryside is bathed in sunshine and springtime. It is easy to feel truly alive at times like this, and we find our spirits buoyed by such lovely weather. But, when the sun goes in and our lives cloud over, we can be comforted by the fact that God’s life, that abundant life, continues, and is based not on our feelings but on God’s constancy and faithfulness.
I hope you will join me in celebrating that this Easter.
With best wishes, Sarah
How lucky we are to experience seasonal chage, albeit slightly out of kilter these days, attributed supposidly to global warming by the “experts”.
Everything has to die is some way or other to live again in a more splendid and perfect way. In order for us humans to do this, we have to die to our old sinful ways and follow a differnt path on our journey to the life that awaits us with our creator on the other side of the grave, only made possible by Jesus dying for all our sins on the cross.
We all need to do more seeing and less looking when out and about just to wonder at the flora & fauna arroud us that our creatoer God has given us.
We need time to stand and stare in our busy filled lives.