Sunday, September 12, 2021

Go to the ant thou sluggard; ...

 

September 2021 - Shepherd's Gutter, Furzley Lane

Introduction

The Bible encourages us to work hard, to plan ahead, to save against future lean times. It’s all true but like much of Scripture it holds its truth in a tension with opposing truths.

We are also told to give away, to be generous, to not worry about tomorrow. The man who was so pleased when he diligently filled all his barns was told ““You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12.20). We’re told to hold possessions lightly so that “when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”.

When Martha complained about Mary skipping household duties to feed her soul on the words of Jesus, she was told “you’re worried and upset about many things but only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the better part.”

We need help untangling these tensions. The creation around us is full of that help.

European Jay


Today our teacher is a bird that is more intelligent than most primates, can equal human toddler in some tasks and vastly exceed adult humans in others (like flying...).


True or false?

1. Jays understand the concept of food product “Use by Dates”.
2. Jays can tell the difference between a dead caterpillar and a twig of the same size and shape.
3. Jays store food near particular flowers – gorse and wild roses being favourites.
4. Over a million jays a year are killed across Europe as part of deliberate culling.
5. While some birds have dust baths, Jays like to bathe in living ants.
6. Jays can learn new tricks by watching the behaviour of other jays.
7. Humans are more susceptible to magic tricks than Jays

Jays are appear to combine the best of hardworking diligence and “planning for the future” with the best of unselfconscious generosity, a benevolence of anonymous abundance from which others benefit without ever knowing the source.

What does that mean for us?

How can we be unselfconsciously benevolent? How we can we turn storing and hoarding behaviour into blessings for others?

Find an oak tree. Enjoy it. Consider its history. Think about the Jay that might have planted it. Imagine what a great memorial that might be. Think about how you can be more Jay-like.

Monday, May 10, 2021

Summer blues

Dark blue English Bluebells with small flowers all on one side of the stalk. Long grass surrounds them.
For the May 2021 New Forest Forest Church reflection we used the emerging carpets of Bluebells in woodland to prompt our thinking on three themes:

  • Ghosts from the past  
  • A different way of measuring and
  • A different kind of strength.
The Summer Blues prompt materials are available as audio or text - if you're passing them on to friends you may prefer to use the short url - tinyurl.com/nffcmay21.

17 of us met online at the monthly zoom link and the conversation ranged widely. For me some of the key insights I got from the sharing included 
  • the idea of "rewilding the church" - the sense that - as bluebells are an echo of the ancient rich woodlands that are now lost; faithful people today continue to offer a glimpse of the rich and complex "wildwood" of faith and action, the legacy of great women and men and movements of the past. Just as ecologists are realising the importance of rewilding degraded landscapes, how do we rewild degraded faithscapes?
  • The value of connections - if you pick a bluebell (don't - they're protected species!) you'd only see the roots; not the fine filigree of fungal connections. Our invisible connections - perhaps to those who nurtured us in the past - need to be acknowledged and cherished. We also may have a role in mentoring and encouraging others, helping their roots grow and connect to the experience of God we have been blessed to know.
  • There was much sharing on the wonder - one called it holiness - of a space filled with bluebells and how we meeded to be mindful of these and other moments. One took 17 teddy bears to the woods for a daughter's Teddy Bear Picnic among the bluebells - a shared memory (and magic) that will likely last a lifetime.
  • The reflection on how to measure our remaining days by things like Bluebell seasons promoted the lovely phrase "intentional living".
  • Being "part of the solution, not part of the problem" led to some wide ranging thoughts and being "humble yet strong, without being a pushover" prompted some wise words about the "right to occupy the space in which we live and to defend it" - though there were many of us still grappling with how to make wise choices based on stewardship and responsibility.
There were many other contributions that will have meant different things to different people. I was grateful for the big and the small insights. None was less important - just like Bluebells are no less important than the trees they grow under. It was great to hear people's perspectives. Thank you.

Alistair McNaught - May 21
     

Sunday, January 17, 2021

Gorse - the winter hope

Gorse flowers dusted with thick, white hoar frost

For the January New Forest Forest Church reflection we explored Gorse - the spiky, defensive yet always sweetly flowering scrub layer of lowland heaths and acid soils.

There is more to gorse than meets the eye. Listen to (or read) the Gorse Tale. 

There is much to love about Gorse.

The way Gorse adapts to hardship (in its perennial quest for fruitfulness) has much to teach us. 

Here's the link to the reflection on Gorse. If you prefer a simpler url then it's tinyurl.com/nffcjan21

Alistair McNaught - January 2021