Summer blues

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