PRIEST'S LETTER

Lent is probably not a church season we look forward to and I wonder why when it comes at such an encouraging time of year. Evenings are drawing out and the first flowers of the year are pushing through the cold earth with determination. For us gardeners, each day brings signs of hope as new energy and life follow the rest and quiet renewal of winter.

And, as always, the natural world has much to teach us. Our winter souls have slept too, but now the light calls us out once more. And so too does the light of Christ. Yes, there may be challenges ahead and the road not always easy, but with Jesus, we are called to bloom and to flourish. We are called to live!

A dear friend of mine had such an experience as we emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic. He is a monastic beekeeper and, in his nature writing, he described the immense hope he felt as we all realised the challenge we had come through, and the hope of life ahead. So, with his beautiful words I wish you all a hopeful Lent!

‘On a sunny day in April 2021, as the world opened up to something resembling normality, I found myself doing something I don’t usually do near the bees: I sat close to the hives in my habit, without my bee suit or veil, just watching.  It was something to do with having shielded for months in 2020, and wanting to feel again the hopeful sun on my skin and to open up with a world that was gradually opening up again.  It was something to do with a relief that the worst of that time was over.  It was something to do with the joy of spring and the joy of life.  It was freedom.  It was comparable to waking up from a heart operation on a spring day and seeing the sunlight through a daffodil in a vase, as bright as stained glass.  I doubt that anyone will tell the bees about my inevitable passing, when it eventually happens, but that April day I wanted instead to tell the bees for myself that I was alive.’

Barbara Priest ( Licenced Lay Minister )