Inspirational | Pilgrim's Perch

The Arrival of Spring

In the northern hemisphere many people have found that the long drawn out winter has seemed endless. The 21st March brings the spring equinox, when the length of the daylight equals the length of the nightlight. There is a noticeable shift in the quality of the light, too.

A grey day hanging over from a long winter

The flat grey days of winter with occasional brilliant contrasting shafts of bright light when the sun does shine give way to a more intense sunlight with a real feeling of warmth.

Splashes of bright and dazzling sun at last

The wind, when it blows, can still be harsh; sleet showers can catch us unawares but more often than not the rain falls more gently, more softly. The birds are singing; their joyful songs can be heard more and more early in the morning, and they continue late into the evening.

Joyful scents, colours and textures of spring

Life is just bursting to get going again after the slack time of winter when all has seemed to be asleep. Out in the garden you can sense the change. One garden writer has said, ‘This is the real thing and by the end of March any sane person is in a state of intoxication, falling in love again with this strange world.’

And indeed it really is a time to get out into the open, to notice the changes the light and the weather undergo; to relish the scent of the spring air, the heady perfume from cut grass, pine resin, sudden floral outbursts from daffodils, hyacinths, violets and other wonderful spring flowers.

‘There is no time like spring, when life’s alive in everything’

Jigsaw Puzzles

If looking out of the window it has looked too cold and uninviting for venturing outside for very long why not indulge in the quiet and absorbing pastime of a jigsaw puzzle?

*Watching the weather on a rainy, cheerless day*

From an early age these delightful puzzles can bring hours of calm and content. Building up an image that reveals itself piece by piece is undemanding, tantalising and hugely satisfying. The quiet clatter as the pieces tumble out of the box creates a sense of anticipation and adventure. The initial sorting of the pieces brings hints of what is to come.

*A jumbled, tumbled pile of pieces. What will they reveal?*

After you’ve turned all the pieces so they’re face up do you just get stuck in? Or do you like to get all the edge pieces gathered together and then complete the outline of the puzzle? (That’s something that can be so frustrating if you find yourself short of a couple of pieces that prevent you from finishing the edge.)

Jigsaw puzzles come in all shapes and sizes. They can be educational or just fun – and very often, both! I recently completed a puzzle that depicted a collage of pre-Raphaelite arts of work. Identifying them and looking up the story behind each picture was a joy in itself. Now I can’t wait to start the next one!

*Discovering new delights with a jigsaw puzzle*

So, for a soothing, peaceful way to pass time when outdoor activities feel less inviting, turn to the trusty jigsaw puzzle – and create yourself a picture.

Death of a much loved Monarch

Every life pilgrimage includes times of loss and grief. Following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and many other parts of the world enter a period of mourning and sorrow. It is also a time of thankfulness for all that our much-loved monarch gave and represented: a lifetime of service, deeply rooted in faith.

One of the Gates at Buckingham Palace, London

The poem ‘Gate of the Year’ by Minnie Louise Haskins, quoted by King George VI in his 1939 war time Christmas broadcast to the British Empire, and often read at funerals, speaks to many at times of grief, loss and difficulty:

 And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

As Her Majesty travels to her final resting place, words of Thomas Campion speak of the finding of peace and sanctuary in a quiet haven after a long journey on the tempestuous seas of life.

Never weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore,
Never tired pilgrim’s limbs affected slumber more,
Then my weary spright now longs to fly out of my troubled breast.
O come quickly, sweetest Lord, and take my soul to rest.

Ever-blooming are the joys of Heaven’s high paradise,
Cold age deafs not there our ears, nor vapour dims our eyes;
Glory there the Sun outshines, whose beams the blessed only see:
O come quickly, glorious Lord, and raise my spright to thee.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

1926 – 2022