Reflection one – ‘Earth's crammed with heaven’

This is the first in a new series of reflections looking at the natural world and finding God’s presence in nature. I recorded the first one in the Rectory garden on a cool, windy day in early January. Being outdoors reminded me that this is not just the beginning of a new year but also a time of new growth which brings with it, new hope.

At Theological College, we were taught to reflect on a passage from the bible and then relate it to something in our lives. For example the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. It seemed impossible to feed so many people with so little food, yet Jesus succeeded. In our own lives, we may feel we’re struggling, we might feel short of time or even short of compassion when there are so many needy people around us. However, if you keep reading the scriptures and applying the teachings to everyday situations, it gives a profound reality to faith. The more you practice, the easier it becomes.

Returning to the theme of finding God in the natural world, these words from a beautiful poem ‘Aurora Leigh’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning lead us into the theme:

“Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

What wonderful images these words convey. We might be in the midst of Lockdown 3 and a global pandemic, but if we open our eyes and take our cue from nature we can glimpse God’s glory all around us. If you reflect on what has made you smile over the past week, it might be a glimpse of the sun shining, tiny buds appearing on branches or the little white heads of snow drops starting to peep through. These are the moments when God breaks into our world, if we just open our eyes and hearts to Him.

One word stands out for me in the poem and that is ‘blackberries’. I love blackberries, they are like precious jewels on thorny bushes. Yet no-one prunes, plants or feeds the wild bushes, they just pop up each year offering us delicious, free food.  To me this is a sign that God is with us and longs for us to recognise His presence.

Using the blackberry analogy, you might feel there is not much fruit coming and faith at the moment may be particularly difficult to find. But think of the blackberries planted in the wasteland and growing in the midst of brambles. The fruit is there!!

Remember one of the most powerful verses in the bible from John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ If we look around us, we can see glimpses of God’s glory. There is light shining in the midst of the brambles and the blackberries will ripen.

With blessings

Rev Rona