Dear Friends,
The story is told of a very elderly lady and her daughter who were out for a run in the car to enjoying the autumn sunshine. They stopped at a viewpoint to get out of the car to get some fresh air and enjoy the colourful view. ‘Isn’t it wonderful that God can take something just before it dies and make it so beautiful’ the younger lady remarked as they gazed at the glorious autumn colours and the fallen leaves. ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if he did that with people’, her mother remarked. The younger woman looked down at the stooped, white-haired old lady beside her and said, ‘Sometimes he does’.
I well remember a very old lady in my first congregation who lived in a tiny cottage with roses round the door. When she stood in her doorway enjoying the sunshine I often used to think how beautiful she was and have often wished that I had been able to take a photograph of her. I’m sure she would have said yes, but I never liked to ask.
Beauty, so they say, is in the eye of the beholder. But it is not just in how things and people look, but particularly in the case of people, how they are. Beauty is defined as the quality present in a thing or a person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether it comes from shape or colour or sound, or whether it comes from a loving and compassionate personality
This Mothering Sunday we will be considering some of the qualities of motherhood. However, these qualities don’t just belong to mothers. They are qualities that define every loving and compassionate human being, qualities we would all do well to encourage and nurture in ourselves and others.
With love and blessings,
Marion
Categories: Minister's Blog