Just when you think spring is round the corner, with some lovely sunshine providing some light and warmth, then we seem to have more rain and cloudy skies. Lots of flowers are now appearing in the gardens and woodlands: crocuses, snowdrops and daffodils. They are lovely to see and bring that little bit of brightness to the dull days of rain, and lift our spirits a little, as do the lighter evenings as we gradually experience longer hours of daylight.
In a way, it should encourage us to be out in the fresh air, to take in the beauty of nature that is around us in our rural parishes. Soon we’ll begin to see the crops in the field as the shoots make their way through the earth – and seedlings will soon be planted, ready for the harvests of the summer. These are just a few of the things that make up God’s creation, and all the resources it provides for us.
Sometimes it is difficult to visualise the seasons of spring and summer when everything around seems so gloomy. My thoughts turn to the verse we find in the Bible from Genesis chapter 8, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” That doesn’t preclude us from caring for the earth, but should encourage us to take more care of it for future generations. I don’t think any of us would want to see the earth and its resources completely reduced and destroyed so that there is nothing left. Let us care for God’s world and its precious resources, ready for our children and our children’s children, so that they too may share in its beauty.
With God’s peace and blessing
Revd Graham
