Reflecting on Nature

What brings you joy in creation?

What grieves you?

What positive stories will you leave behind?

We chose this image, in part, because it reminded us of the windswept grasses of Iona.

Lizzie Farey, the artist, says of it:

While working on Ventus – The Wind in the Wild Grasses – I feel a sense of deep gratitude and peace.  

I immerse myself in a place where I am able to work intuitively and express what is important to me. 

The piece quietly exists, an invitation to pause and reflect.  The delicate structure of the willow revealing an interaction with nature that is deeply personal. 

How does this image speak to you?

What words or feelings about nature does this image generate in you?

How do you respond to this image?

“Think global, act local”. What one thing could you do to put this into practice?

In the story of our own church community the fig tree has become a symbol of hope, reminding us of a parable Jesus told in which an unproductive tree was given another chance to bear fruit, just as our church once was.

What signs of hope do you notice, however small they may seem?

How does nature restore you? How can you restore nature?

Take One Step

Sit on a bench in a park or garden for half an hour.

Find out what a local conservation group is doing and join in.

Words for the Heart

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, 
places to play in and pray in, 
where nature may heal 
and give strength to body and soul alike.

John Muir - The Yosemite (1912), p 256.

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

Gaelic Blessing