Dear Friends
The snowdrops are out in the churchyard and they look magnificent. Waiting for snow, (well as I write, it’s forecast for our area nearly every day this week, so I can’t believe it isn’t going to happen, especially as it keeps trying!), feels a bit like how I used to feel waiting for Father Christmas as a child; a sort of excitement and trepidation all at the same time. When I was small my Dad used to drive a Landrover as part of his work. If it began to snow at a time when we were all free we would go out in it as the snow began to fall. I loved the experience. It never ceases to amaze me how the natural world can have such a direct effect on how we feel. I am reminded that we are people of mind, body and spirit; who live in relationship with one another, the world, with God and ourselves.
Recent research into children’s spirituality by Rebecca Nye suggests that this relational part of our nature which she terms ‘relational consciousness’ is a natural and universal part of human experience; spirituality, which is vital for life ‘as the bedrock on which rests the welfare, not only of the individual, but also of society, and indeed the health of our entire planetary environment.’(1) This relational framework for spirituality allows us to explore some of the most difficult questions in life.
In my view there is a right move within the church at the moment regarding our contribution to the broad human concern of many for our natural environment. This is the focus of our Lent lectures this year, as we seek to discover more of what human beings are doing to the world and what might be an appropriate Christian response. In his book ‘Sharing God’s Planet’ Archbishop Rowan Williams encourages us to renew our acquaintance with nature: ‘Go for a walk. Get wet. Dig the earth.’ We are fortunate where we live that many of us are able to do these things in wonderful surroundings.
Some of the Gospel writers note that when Jesus was crucified even nature responded and the sky turned black. There can be a wider unity to our way life if only we can rediscover something of it. But this darkness was not the end. Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Cross and resurrection cannot be separated from one another; darkness and light held together. They are one event, which has shaped the world for over 2000 years. May our experience as we live through this most amazing event renew our relationships at a deep level that we may play our part in God’s salvation for the whole world.
Happy Easter to you all when it comes,
Ruth
(1) David Hay with Rebecca Nye, The Spirit of the Child, London, Harper Collins, 1998 p153