Peace and Quiet in Troubled Times

Peace & Quiet takes place on the 3rd

Wednesday of each month. Please click on the pictures with

red writing below them to hear the music or watch silent images.

In these uncertain times with so many worries, anxieties and fears threatening to

overwhelm us it is difficult to accept that what we knew as ‘normal’ life may never

return. There will have to be a new ‘normal’ which we can help to create. But during

this time of beautiful weather if we have looked around us at the natural world, even

if the view is from a backyard, a balcony, a local park, a garden, a patch of green

with a tree at the end of the street, we will have seen that every day has brought new

life to the trees. The ‘normal’ rhythm of natural life continues. Late winter has turned

to spring and early summer in all its exuberance is almost upon us. Did you notice

the early catkins falling and the bright green fresh leaves bursting out? The cherry

blossom is now in drifts in the gutters and the magnolia leaves are scattered on

lawns. The fragrance of lilacs surprises and the big white candle blossoms of the

horse chestnut trees dance in the wind. White May blossom spreads through the

hedges and the world looks ‘normal’. And all this within easy reach in built-up areas

on our daily walk! If we stop, stay still, look and wonder. Live in the moment as

children do! If we allow ourselves to be calm, to look at the world around us, it will do

its work and begin to heal us. It will help us to survive.

Trees

Bare tracery against a

Flawless sky; promise of

Spring, sap-rising, bursting

Into leaf; fullness of

Flower at summer’s height;

Flowers, fruit and then

Fulfilment in the autumn

Fire. Symbol of life and

Death and resurrection,

Endlessly repeated,

Growing to completion.

Standing deep-rooted,

Moving with the wind,

Offering shelter and

Strength to all who come,

Embodying ageless wisdom.

Here I will rest, and let the

Silence penetrate my depths,

Giving me timeless space

To grow and be. - Ann Lewin

Vivaldi – Spring

Peace Trees

To be in the presence of trees

Is to know peace.

The silent rhythm of their life,

Bringing maturity in due time,

Without anxiety or haste,

Calms our impatience;

Their solid strength, derived from

Hidden roots, spreading much further

Then we ever know, gives us security;

Grace, beauty, shapeliness and form,

Delight our senses, soothe our

Fragile nerves and bring refreshment.

Let us in turn be trees,

Growing in God’s time to maturity,

Spreading our roots deep into springs of life,

Opening branches wide to all who come

Offering strength and healing through our

Peace. - Ann Lewin

Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will

be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 Prayer Tree

Prayer gives us rootedness,

Reaching out…

Discovering in darkness

Sources of nourishment;

Pushing with patient insistence

Against obstacles;

Drawing from strange places

Strength for life that

Grows in light;

Holding us as we bend,

And when we break, offering

Hope, that from the

Unimaginable dark,

New shoots will spring. - Ann Lewin

The Lord’s My Shepherd

10 minutes of silence with images of trees

Seek a Blessing of Trees

As part of creation,

like the wood of the cross,

may God bless us.

May we know, like the oak, how to stand:

rooted in truth;

reaching for light;

patiently enduring and growing;

sheltering without favour,

all who come into the shade;

and become part of the rock on which we rest.

May we learn, like the willow, how to bend:

flexing in hope;

twisting in love;

moving with the breeze of the Spirit;

receiving the pressures of others for

accommodating their pain;

and trusting that, in God’s time, all will return.

May we find, like the pine, an evergreen way:

clothed in life;

ever productive;

bearing the colour of Christ in all seasons;

never succumbing to dark winters no matter how

bleak today may seem;

and, when we are cut (for we shall be), letting our

fragrance spread, for God’s sake.

Like the wood of the cross,

May God bless us. By Duncan L Tuck.

God has given us a dream.

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, was written at the time of the severe and

widespread persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Domitian (AD 81-96).

The author, believed to be the apostle John, was in exile on the small island of

Patmos because of his activities as a Christian missionary. He was granted visions,

an ‘apocalypse’, or unveiling of the unseen battle raging between Christ and Satan

which he wrote down in highly symbolic language which is hard for us to access. He

was encouraging the people in the churches to whom he sent the letter to stand firm

and to have hope in Jesus.

The last two chapters describe the vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Parts of

them are often read at funeral services, for the hope offered ‘that God will dwell with

people and wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ The symbol of the hope we are

given is the tree of life in which all may share.

‘On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit,

producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing

of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there anymore.’ As we look in awe at the exuberance of new life in the natural world this springtime, dare we believe that God is giving us a dream to encourage us in our exile from our normal way of life. Amidst the awfulness of the times dare we hope that seeds are being planted everywhere to give birth to such a tree: seeds of practical help for others, seeds of community involvement, seeds of crossing social boundaries, seeds

of love and thankfulness, of sacrificial giving, of recognition of the worth of individuals and of a great coming together to fight the unseen enemy amongst us. God has given us a dream.

10 minutes of silent with images of trees

Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Part

Ann Lewin’s poems can be found in Watching for the Kingfisher: Poems & Prayers.