Spring into Song

February bounces in and whilst the weather still brings a chill there is certainly more light as the days lengthen.

Morning birds greet the dawn

With that growing light have you noticed how the mornings become filled with birdsong? Our feathered friends sense the approaching spring and their singing is optimistic,bright and cheerful.

A great tit pauses for a drink

Indeed, it is often said that St Valentine’s Day (14th February) is the day on which birds choose a partner ready for the mating season.

Valentine’s Day brings glowing hearts

But singing is good for humans too. It helps reduce blood pressure, improve lung function, posture, and it boosts the immune system. Breathing deeply and filling the lungs with air opens our body and mind up to new possibilities. Try some deep breathing exercises and see just how much more wide awake, alert and aware you feel. Singing triggers chemical changes in the body and releases ‘happy hormones’ including dopamine and endorphins, which help reduce stress and create a sense of wellbeing.

Enjoy that sense of wellbeing…

You can sing alone – or with others. It can be huge fun joining a choir – it teaches you to listen to one another, it helps improve memory and you have the satisfaction of creating something beautiful. Any more benefits? Yes! Lasting friendships can be formed – with a common bond these can be sources of joy for many years. No wonder the birds sound so cheerful!

The tiniest birds can make a joyful sound!

Holy Week and Easter

The season of Lent draws to an end and the Christian church enters Holy Week. Palm Sunday blows in with the cheering and waving of palm branches as Jesus enters Jerusalem. ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’, the people cry – believing that here is the Saviour they’ve been waiting for. Repression, oppression and hardship will cease and all shall be well.

Palm Sunday procession

But the events of Holy Week take a twist. The authorities are upset by Jesus and what they see as his subversive actions. Determined to do away with him they bring about his arrest, fake trial and execution. All seems lost…

Good Friday is one of the most painful days in the Christian year. Betrayal, loss, grief and bewilderment – just some of the emotions felt by the family, friends and followers of Jesus as they stand at the foot of the cross and watch him die. So many people have endured these emotions over the last year as they have seen the effects of Covid-19 on family and friends. It’s tough to experience; hard to understand why such bad, sad things happen. None of us can bypass the cross. But even as we stand there, weeping, God is with us. Even as he died, one of the last thoughts of Jesus was for his mother and his much loved disciple, as he commended them to each other’s care. His love never ends.

The Crucifixion

Jesus dies and is laid in a tomb. All seems lost. Holy Saturday comes in as a quiet, sad and reflective day when the earth seems to cease turning and all life is suspended in a kind of disbelief.

But then a new day dawns, Easter arrives, and with it a jubilant message of death being overturned. New life bursts forth with the risen Jesus – just as he had promised. A new story begins…

Each of us can take hope from this. In the last book of the Christian Bible are written the words, ‘Behold, I make all things new…’ (Revelation 21:5.) Spring arrives, and with it comes an explosion of new life springing forth. Now is the time for us to delight in the signs of spring and to remember that age-old promise  expressed so delightfully in the Book of Psalms, ‘weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.’ (Psalm 30:5.)

The Easter Garden and New Life

Pilgrim's Perch
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