THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS

‘What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’ So wrote W.H. Davies, the poetic tramp. It’s yet another case of a man of one poem. Everybody knows it and nobody remembers the hobo who lost a leg jumping on and off railway wagons in Canada.

Jesus would surely have approved. ‘Consider the lilies of the field,’ he said. He saw splendour greater than that of Solomon in the flowers of the field. So would Shakespeare. In ‘Winter’s Tale’ we find a reference to daffodils that take the winds of March with beauty’. In ‘Hamlet’ we find ‘rosemary, that’s for remembrance’ In ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ we have ‘a bank whereon the wild thyme blows.’ These are words from a man who was accustomed to take delight in noticing and naming flowers of all kinds.

There is a language in flowers – from ‘Foget-me-nots’ to ‘St John’s Wort’ we are surrounded by flowers that tell a story as well as adorning our daily lives. A world without flowers is a miserable place. When they take the form of gifts, they express affection and understanding. When we see bluebells en masse, we are enchanted. Even their names give us pleasure.

A man that has no music in him, said Shakespeare, ‘is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; …let no such man be trusted.’ What he saw as true of music is true of flowers. Time spent in enjoying flowers is time well spent. Beauty is one of the windows which carries truth into the soul. A place of worship cannot be anything less than a place of beauty. When we build or refurbish such a place we are offering our Creator a thank you just as we might offer a bouquet.

‘He hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly,’ says Iago of Cassio. It is an occasion when a black pot recognisses a shiny kettle. We can even from a Iago that there are many ways of looking at a person’s character. The beauty or otherwise is a valid perception.

The Chronicler records King David urging his people to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. (1 Chronicles 16.29). Flowers help us to do that.

GARDEN TOWN

Known as the garden town of Staffordshire, Biddulph has a close connection with Kenya. St Leonard’s parish church, Biddulph (without aa vicar at present) has forged a strong link with St Paul’s church Syongila. Frequent visits both ways take place. St Paul’s has just had a new vicar appointed – Gordon Muia – and has established four new churches in the area.

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