Have you seen a perfect beach scene, Sun, sand and sea placed before us so lovingly, Cloudless bright sky, sunbeams a-strewn azure wavy sea, And an array, display of golden or white finest sand. How grand! What a day, such a display. The marvels of God are many indeed. His choice is for a life to delight us, Excite us into the heights of happiness, This will always include beauty in the world about us. Some may say regarding the sea, It becomes easy to see the beauty When set amidst the tropics. But is this really necessary? Others would say and I agree, There is always something of beauty, If you look sufficiently, keenly aware That God will share His love with us. Visit then, the sea in June. Savour the fresh flavour of early summer. It is within reach on a beach. And enjoy the seaside scenery, Sun, sand and sea all charmingly lovely. And thankfully not at all hard to find, As long as you keep God’s generosity in mind.

Life partakers Adventure seekers Everywhere explorers Tree climbers Den builders Time fulfillers Experience learners Discovery engagers Thrill takers Fun makers Laughter givers Joy sharers Such smilers Offer thanks For all Childhood happiness. Should we Not be Able to Tackle life Similarly happily? At least Happy childhood Can sit Easily, comfortably In, upon Our memory. Thank You For this Joyful possibility

Holy Jesus, in the Eucharist, such fruitfulness offered, You are heavenly life to us. Thank You for this precious gift of Yourself, Given directly from heaven. Truly our hearts rejoice as we seek. For we find Your body given us as consecrated bread That we be fed on Your truth. We remember Your blood shed for us As we recall the † of Your saving justice. So we are joyously praising You, To offer all our highest thanksgiving That we are graced to be living joyously anew through You. “...no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.” based on Romans 8 v 1, 2 How bountifully You lovingly deal with us. Thank You for this aspect of the Eucharist, For showing us the reality of the Paschal Mystery. You delight us by sharing Your holiness. As we partake of this, we think of the fullness Which whilst on earth, You did promise us. How generous You are in Your all loving faithfulness. We would be lost without this, For it is Your love which offers meaning and purpose to life, In all goodness, overflowing with godliness. We offer all thanks for this boundless kindness, glorious Jesus, And living to be giving of You, this we must ask: “May we be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, enabled to live a life worthy of You, Lord, fully pleasing to You, bearing fruit of every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” based on Colossians 1 v 9, 10

When planning the flower colour of your garden, Do you shop for impact? What best achieves this? Which colours grown together inspire us? What makes a dramatic colour pop? What can storm our senses? What colours seek to shock when put together? Take stock to unlock potential. Certainly there is a wide variety of possibility. Perhaps we should narrow down the choice To take, make a focus of a limited colour palette? What can brightly enhance the scene? What colour combination has real appeal? Very definitely red and green A dream combination of dramatic, attractive colour. Red and green in bright vividness Will usually stop us in our track, For they lack nothing needed to attract attention. No clash here, God is near, painting by beauty.

Dancing light Chasing away night, Shadows defined, Shapes outlined. Shimmering light, Noon day in sight, Warming our life, Blessings beyond strife. Evening shades of light Falling before night, Gently, slowly, opens lengthening shadow display Bids farewell to today. Times arrival at night, Bidding farewell to light. Offering peace in repose, Day done, I suppose. Yet, remember this: The true light is in Jesus, God’s promise to be with us, Lovelight the Trinity’s focus. Easter Day dawns celebratory anew. What a joyous day, In each and every way, We realise as we pray. Before we go on our way, Pray in all praise and thanksgiving. For in Jesus, by the Spirit, God gifts us new living. Keep praying!

Lord, I know somebody who has a motto Which does say or perhaps pray: “May the day be blessed, not stressed.” What a worthy sentiment As a blessing and a prayer! For then through the eternal Spirit We share in the love of the Lord Jesus, Being prepared for eternity now. Heaven is not only some future place, A rather ethereal concept. Heaven is a reality amongst Your family. Why? How? “Even though you do not hear Him, He speaks to the heart.” St Teresa of Avila Because the blessings flow through the Spirit of Jesus. Our anxiety is dealt with lovingly. Our fear is dealt with mercifully. Our doubt is quelled, thankfully. Prayer is where we invoke the Spirit of Jesus To come to us, to work with us, That we can be a blessing to each other. Thank You for the friend, seeking to bless us, He who brought this his motto to my attention. May his life be richly blessed, never stressed, As he offers himself in Your service. What hope, peace and joy we find in Your fellowship. “And be certain that the more advanced you see you are in the love of your neighbour, the more advanced you will be in love of God, for the love His Majesty has for us is so great, that to repay us for our love of neighbour, He will in a thousand ways increase the love we have for Him. I cannot doubt this.” St Teresa of Avila 2 “In this decision I was determined to go where I thought I could serve God more.” St Teresa of Avila

Listen to the flower name, Claim the insect’s choice. The ever pollen hungry bumble bee, Or the beautiful butterfly Are game for any, many flowers Whether annual or perennial, Or indeed in the wild flower meadow. The variety of thistle And flower of the Linden tree, Are loved by the iconic bumble bee. Butterflies alight on nectar rich flowers, The buddleia, aster, honeysuckle, And wild, wide ranging meadow sweet. July sees an increasing flurry of activity As garden and meadow flowers open up a pantry, Whose feasts feed the hungry insects. July is banquet time.

Vibrant winter colour, Luscious green of evergreen; Bold red or maybe sunny yellow of dogwoods; Pristine white of snowdrops; Creamy brown of grasses; Damson plum of some shrubs; Prettiest pink of daphne; Regal purple of hellebores; Sulphur orange fire of witch hazel; Cyclamen pink a-shining; And sitting atop Fiery orange of sunset; Setting aglow a wintery evergreen world As if come alight to warm and excite, To attract and invite attention. Who could think Winter lacks colour? This simply is not possible Unless we allow the garden To become an overgrown, No love shown, winter wilderness. Look sufficiently carefully And you will see A riot of winter colour Sufficient to warm up the coldest day In its glorious on fire colour display. Or is it that vibrancy like beauty, Is in the eye of the beholder? That is only one way to test the theory. Look about you until sufficiently taken, Overtaken by the ‘Wow’ factor, Then give this marks out of ten! Whatever you are marking, What you will say, Is that vibrancy plays its part In enthralling our heart, Silently speaking, testifying To the ways and wonders of God. Always desirous of exciting us Whatever the time of year. For beauty will declare God is near, Here, somewhere. More than ready to share 2 His insight as to life’s delight. Yellow tint of mahonia in colder weather. Boldness of red berries surviving, thriving as not yet eaten. Sufficient topiary as to add colour to structure As well as bind an edge neatly As if carefully framed by the hedge. Gloriously, imposingly tall Cedar of Lebanon, blue green, Dominant as only trees grown of height can be. It could even be, I suppose, That a garden can provide Richer, deeper, more bolder contrast, Of many a colour in winter Than as expected in summer. For indeed, God likes to surprise us! So presumably He will not miss out On using anything of simple dramatic impact. Such boldness of contrasts in winter colour, Of purples against scarlets, ice green of lemon and lime, Brown ruffs of rustling grasses, scarlet fiery cornus. Sunshine yellow painting the world mellow Splashed by marmalade citrus orange. You simply cannot beat this! But then who would even think to, When beauty is a currency exchange Between the Almighty and mankind.

You can bring flowers indoors To put in a pot or not, The choice is yours. There is such an array of containers: Baskets, bowls, troughs, trays, China, clay, card mounting. More displays with trinkets, vases and jugs Amounting to another choice. In fact life is filled with choices, Some really significant, others less so. Choices are offered so we grow Throughout life, working towards maturity. Have you thought then How very significant it is To make choices in faith? Whether we believe in God’s gospel message Or shy away from this, Opens the door to many an opportunity. But better than anyone telling us this, Is to discover the truth for ourselves. We each have a personal responsibility To seek faith, to pose the significant question. ‘Why are we here, what is life leading to?’ The choice made will direct our future. We had better get this one correct. There is such a lot to gain or lose According to whether we come into and remain in The all loving presence and power of God or not. Let enjoyment be without a pause. Cut and pick to bring some flowers indoors!