An Unexpected Visitor - Mr Heron

 On a wet Monday afternoon we had an unexpected surprise visitor to our monastery pond - a large grey heron! He stood so still and we too stood still. Just watching! Then one of the sisters very quietly went for the camera and was lucky to get a photo before this great bird spread his wings and flew off. He won’t return because we have no fish in our pond.

Isn’t it amazing how we can be surprised with delight by such encounters? It lifted our hearts on a wet dreary Monday.

Our visitor reminded us of nature and our world as we continue to celebrate the Season of Creation (1^st September to Feast of St Francis 4^th October) which is now an annual Christian event. It is a time to pray for the care of our common home and reflect on our actions personally and as a community. The theme for this year is ‘listen to our Common home’. The cry of the earth also echoes the cry of the poor. Because we can see very clearly the care of the earth or lack of it affects all our lives but especially the poor.

As we read about the adverse effects of climate change we can feel overpowered. When this happens I remember the title of the book by of E F Schumacher ‘Small is Beautiful’. The full title of Schumacher’s book is Small is Beautiful, a study of economics as if people matter. As if people matter - so the small acts of care for the earth mount up and if each person committed to a small act each day we could make effective changes. 

 Today while standing in amazement at our unexpected guest I was alerted to how God’s speaks through nature in so many ways. During the day I noticed that I was more aware of the little things happening around me. In the garden the signs of autumn were all around with the leaves falling and those beautiful shiny chestnuts on the ground.  I had a renewed sense of the beautiful world God created as our common home. Thank you Mr Heron for the wakeup call!

Martin Luther wrote, “God has written the Gospel not only in books, but also in trees and other creatures”.