creation – Page 2 – Notes from Bambi

Tools for the job!

Dear Benedict,

I wonder if chapter 32 is the shortest in your Rule? In a couple of paragraphs you make clear that Benedictine spirituality extends to all aspects of life and work.

A few years ago I won a dibber in a local raffle. Today it had its annual outing, dibbing in some bulbs for the Spring. I have now put it away again for future dibbing. I am very fond of tulips. Here are some from last Spring.

But I won’t need my dibber again for a while. Much of the stuff I own is like this: seasonal or occasional in some other way. I try to treat them carefully and make appropriate use of them. I sometimes think I have too many things, but that’s another matter. It seems fine to have two of something, like cheese knives for two different kinds of cheese. They don’t take up a lot of room after all. But down sizing remains an issue in our small house and I can’t help thinking we still have too many of some items.

Being responsible about stuff is important. The world is neither an endless source of things or a bottomless waste tip. The inequalities by which some have too much and others nothing continue to exhaust me. As Christmas approaches I resolve not to buy stuff for folks that they don’t need and to spread out some of my resources to those who need more.

Meanwhile, I’ll look after my dibber until next planting time.

From the remembered bible: To everything there is a season… a time to dib and a time to put away your dibber.

Thanks for providing me with the tools for the job.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Sing!

Dear Benedict,

In chapter 17 of your Rule you are quite specific about which psalms the community should sing and when. The Psalter was the hymn book of your community and in all of the Benedictine communities I have visited it is obviously well known and much loved.

When I walked my End to End last year I was surprised how many bits of psalms, what I call psalm snippets, there were in my remembered bible and when I walk I often come back to them and reflect on them. Although I do use the psalms I also sing a lot of other things, quite a bit of which I make up ‘as I go along’ with the pattern of the psalms and the seasons to inspire me.

Today I was walking in our valley enjoying the falling leaves. Forest Church, an expression of outdoor worship, attracts me and there are places round here I often revisit . Today I made tracks to a group of beech trees that I call the Beech Cathedral and they were glorious. I wrote this hymn whilst I sat there.

The beech trees in this season
Each wear a golden gown,
And in the strips of woodland,
Deciduous leaves fall down.
All sorts of berries ripen
And turn a vibrant red
So in the coldest season,
The wayside birds are fed.

Chorus:
With all these things around us
May we learn to share
The good things of Creation
And for our planet, care.

The canopy above us,
The leaves beneath our feet,
The world continues turning,
The patterns still repeat,
But with our climate changing
We haven’t got much time
To change our wasteful ways
And repent of climate crime.

Chorus:
With all these things around us
May we learn to share
The good things of Creation
And for our planet, care.

The swallow have flown southwards,
The geese have come to rest,
By patterns of migration
We all are truly blessed.
But temperatures are rising,
The poorest bear the cost
We must change how we’re living
Or all we know is lost.

Chorus:
With all these things around us
May we learn to share
The good things of Creation
And for our planet, care.

Tune is Wir Pflugen (We plough the fields)

From the remembered bible: And the trees of the field shall clap their hands

I sing to you!

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

All sentient beings

I sniffed the air. I was testing it to decide whether to run or stay. The sharp smell of human sweat came through the trees towards me but I decide to stay hidden in the leaf littered hollow as it was a little way from the path.
A woman walked along holding a child tightly by the hand. She wasn’t looking for a small creature in the undergrowth. I’d made the right decision.
Before I was born I had decided as all must, in case you had forgotten. From the catalogue of all sentient beings where should my soul reside? I thought about it carefully. Some admired the human being, like the woman and child walking there. Others chose carnivores or creatures that could fly or swim. Me, I chose a small herbivore to be my sentient being. Excellent sense of smell and keen intelligence, good camouflage: I was at home in the leafy hollow. Of course I was also vulnerable to humans or carnivores or raptors gliding above me. But each creature had its vulnerabilities including those that looked or thought they were the strongest. In the forest I was well hidden and well fed. I could usually find a welcoming mud wallow for my comfort or amusement.
As I looked around the forest, knowing this was where I would grow up, I was content. When asked for my choice by the Almighty Creator, I had answered confidently, ‘Pig’.
Some had sniggered. Pig was not their idea of an attractive sentient being. But I was happy being a pig and, with all sentient brings, I lifted my snout and I praised God.

In our life and our believing
The love of God

JAL 29.01.2019

Living water

The water is alive!
See how it flows,
Hear how it whispers and roars!
After a summer of dwindling,
Seeping away, slowly sinking,
Now rain raises it up,
Brown and white, foaming and vigorous.
This valley is marked by it
As it both stills and flows,
Moving on to give life to other places.

May we be like the living water.
As you raise us up, enliven us,
By your Spirit, to share life and renew
Our communities with hope and love.

JAL 05.01.2019