Eye - 7 August 2020

From Meeting with martins to an imperious tone

Meeting with martins

Sixteen Sundays of lockdown prompted Jane Woodford, of Dundee Meeting, to reflect on some unexpected company.

She writes that, during lockdown ‘I haven’t been able to get to Dundee Friends Meeting House which is ten miles from our home in Perthshire. My husband, an attender, had started to come with
me, so we now have a Meeting for Worship at home, just the two of us… but this year we’ve also had the company of a pair of house martins.

‘These little birds returned from Africa and built a nest under the eaves of a high south-facing window overlooking our garden. If they return next year it would be nice to know they are “our” martins, but a birder friend told me that house martins are very difficult to ring.

‘It seems a miracle to me that these small birds fly so far to maintain their food supply, and it is a joy to see them return. But when we see martins and swallows lined up on the local
power lines we know it’s the end of summer and I feel a sense of sadness when they depart.

‘Meantime I rejoice in their presence, despite a window streaked with birdlime. I’ll clean the window when they’ve gone. Their presence with us is in itself a ministry of endurance and survival. God bless them for flying here and sheltering under our roof.’

A spiritual connection

One Meeting has worship at home
With spiritual connection alone.
Then Afterwords follow
While coffee they swallow
Sharing thoughts by email or phone.

Jackie Fowler

Silence of the Rings

Friends in Kingsbridge, Devon, have been coming together in socially-distanced worship at an Iron Age encampment. Juliet Morton told Eye that outdoor Meeting for Worship has been held a number of times and that Friends are ‘finding our time of worship outside most refreshing, spiritually and physically.

‘This photo [above] was taken as we produced our thermos flasks. The previous Meeting had been cooler and we were wrapped up in coats, scarves and blankets’.

The leafy spot where the photo was taken is called Blackdown Rings. Juliet told Eye: ‘[It] is the site of an Iron Age encampment, sitting on high land. The area is now grazed by sheep. The few trees there are are covered with lichens and mosses that sway in the wind; most evocative in bad weather. It is a glorious place in good weather with far-reaching views.’

An imperious tone

A nontheist Friend, very serious,
Rose in Meeting and said, tone imperious,
‘Father, and Son,
And Spirit in One?
Please stop it! You make me delirious!’

Howard W Hilton

---

Comments

Please login to add a comment