Birds, bees, butterflies, blossoms, blooms, brighter and warmer days heralding resurrection and the hope of Spring-time and Easter
Illustration by TWINS DESIGN STUDIO via adobe stock
The Voice of Hope
“The Days to Come”
Now shall I store my soul with silent beauty,
Beauty of drifting clouds and mountain heights,
Beauty of sun-splashed hills and shadowed forests,
Beauty of dawn and dusk and star-swept nights.
Now shall I fill my heart with quiet music,
Song of the wind across the pine-clad hill,
Song of the rain and, fairer than all music,
Call of the thrush when twilight woods are still.
So shall the days to come be filled with beauty,
Bright with the promise caught from eastern skies;
So shall I see the stars when night is darkest,
Still hear the thrush’s song when music dies.~ Medora C. Addison “The Days to Come,”
in Dreams and A Sword (Yale University Press, 1922).
The message of Easter, and the signal sent by the arrival of spring, is that life will return, one way or another. At times of crises, this story is timeless and priceless, let’s cling to it.
Promise of Easter and Spring is HOPE and Renewal
Easter is the time of hope, reflection, contemplation, imagination and renewal
Photo via quotsgram
'Let me seek, then, the gift of silence, and poverty, and solitude, where everything I touch is turned into prayer: where the sky is my prayer, the birds are my prayer, the wind in the trees is my prayer, for God is all in all.'- Thomas Merton
'I walk with beauty before me;
I walk with beauty behind me;
I walk with beauty above me;
I walk with beauty below me;
I walk with beauty all around me;
Your world is so beautiful, O God.'- Navajo prayer
'When a tsunami of crisis hit him on the shores of fear, hopelessness, helplessness, self-doubt and destruction, he let nature embrace him to give him hope for better days to come.’
Discovering the Presence of Beauty, Hope, Renewal and Resurrection in Nature
Springing back in April with a Renewed Sense of Hope and Optimism
Seeing Creation in Nature
Aerial view of Widecombe in the Moor, a village and large civil parish on Dartmoor National Park in Devon,
England, UK. Photo credit: Alexey Fedoren/Via iStock
'Be like the sun for grace and mercy.
Be like the night to cover others’ faults.
Be like running water for generosity.
Be like death for rage and anger.
Be like the Earth for modesty.
Appear as you are.
Be as you appear.'- Rumi
Dear Friends of the GCGI,
As the season of Easter begins across many countries around the world, we at the GCGI extend the season's greetings and our best wishes of love, peace, renewal and hope to you all.
At this beautiful time of the year, flowers and blossoms are blooming, birds are singing, butterflies are dancing, and the days are getting brighter and longer. What better way to sing the praises of Spring’s arrival than to read beautiful poetry. Here are two poems we would like to share with you: One from Hopkins and the other from Wordsworth: Celebrating the joyous Spring with Hopkins and Wordsworth
Over one hundred years ago, on the official first day of spring, the Anglo-Welsh war poet and naturalist Edward Thomas set off from Clapham Common in London to cycle and walk to the Quantock Hills in Somerset. The record of his journey, called In Pursuit of Spring, became a nature-writing classic, telling of exuberant chiffchaffs and house martins, daffodils and cowslips in full flower and "honeysuckle in such profusion as I had never before seen"... ‘In Pursuit of Spring’
‘But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.’-Job 12:7-10
‘The first act of divine revelation is creation itself. The first Bible is the Bible of nature. It was written at least 13.8 billion years ago, at the moment that we call the Big Bang, long before the Bible of words. “Ever since God created the world, God’s everlasting power and divinity—however invisible—are there for the mind to see in the things that God has made” (Romans 1:20). One really wonders how we missed that. Words gave us something to argue about, I guess. Nature can only be respected, enjoyed, and looked at with admiration and awe. Don’t dare put the second Bible in the hands of people who have not sat lovingly at the feet of the first Bible. They will invariably manipulate, mangle, and murder the written text.’... Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, The First Bible
And now for those who are interested to read a bit more about Easter from a Christian perspective, we recommend the following links The Promise of Resurrection and Discovering the Presence of God in Nature
The Promise of Resurrection
'Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.' –Martin Luther
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy Easter,
Enjoy the beautiful and inspiring nature and springtime,
Until we meet again, we hope, soon,
Keep well,
Stay safe,
Love,
Kamran and Annie
Hoping for the beautiful days that are yet to come.
They will be like the rays of sunshine sustaining and nourishing us
Sunrise Oxwich Bay, South Wales.- Photo: Anne Mofid