A Walk into The Countryside (6.9.14)

“A walk into the countryside provides music to the soul.

A walk into the countryside provides time for the spirit’s song.

A walk into the countryside shares the beauty of creation with the body soul and spirit.

A walk into the countryside magnifies the joy within the heart,

                                             appreciates the surroundings built from life,

                                             sheds the jangling of the jungle,

                                             uplifts the earth-born senses of man,

                                             furnishes the memory for a lifetime of reflection,

                                             should hold a smaller hand filled with the queries from expectation.

A walk into the countryside unmasks the presence of design,

                                             filters out the hum and buzz of activity filled with travelling,

                                             replaces it with the hum and buzz of insects on the wing.

A walk into the countryside unmasks the sheen of new leaves awaiting their new season –

                                                                                                                          of breathing for a tree,

                                             unmasks their end-of-season as they colour prior to shedding –

                                                                                where they stood with purpose to magnify the tree.

A walk into the countryside bequeaths the blessing of a family with the perfect nesting place –

                                                        as the parents search out in unison the best spots known for food;

                                                        as the parents raise the clutch entrusted to their care;

                                                                    as the carers –

                                                                                  so enlivened with their mission –

                                                                     care for and maintain the nest with its so precious cargo.

A walk into the countryside projects flashes of colour for attention –

                                                                               carefree butterflies flitting,

                                                                                                              jumping,

                                                                                                                    through the air of God –

                                   supporting wings of glowing beauty with colours enlivened from the rainbow.

A walk into the countryside shares the moment of discovery when the ‘jet-engine’ of the skies thrusts the swallow,

                                                                                                        in his darts and jigs,

                                                                                                        before the eyes of wonder –

                                           now returned from distant shores for the rediscovering of his birthplace:

                                                                                                        filled with honour and release.

A walk into the countryside should encounter a journey across a bridge,

                                                         encourage a peering down,

                                                         display the gentle weaving to and fro of the green fronds immersed –

                                                                   within the sparkling clarity of their medium of choice,

                                                         discover a fish seen basking in the filtered sunlight –

                                                                   as she rests behind a swirling ripple waiting for her lunch.

A walk into the countryside invites the view across the fence into a field of function:

              where the cows do graze according to their appetites with their backs placed to the wind –

                                                                                       and then take time to lie and chew their cuds;

              where the hares do run and play in their season of new birth;

              where the hedgehogs lay their tracks within the dark of night;

              where the earthworms surface in the rain awaited by the knowing beaks;

              where the activity of life is there and waiting with its messages of marvels and of wonders –

                                                           yet sometimes screened by the busyness of man –

                                                           yet each still filled with its own testimony of life in its variety.

A walk into the countryside deserves a walk along a stream;

              one which is not in a hurry;

              one which does not hide the depths;

              one which has the intermittent shade of trees;

              one which welcomes the gaiety of the kingfisher to both feed and nest along its banks;

              one which rejoices in its being and provides the restful spot where a picnic is invited on its grassy verge;

              one where the birds are invited to sing from dawn to dusk –

                                           as the birdsong of the break-of-day crescendoes into the dawn,

                                           as the birdsong of the eventide fades into the backdrop of the sunlit day.

A walk into the countryside declares the furnishing of the sky above to the uplifted head,

                                                            the wonder of the fluffy clouds at rest upon the blue,

                                                            the marvel of the ‘racehorses’ seen travelling at excessive speed –

                                                            searching for a refill at a distant point of gathering –

                                                            so then able to replenish waiting life below as certified by God.

A walk into the countryside enhances understanding,

                                             builds a bond of love,

                                             introduces a time of sharing,

                                             speaks of the glory to eyes which have been opened,

                                             shouts with praise the affirmation of our God –

                                                                                                       that He,

                                                                                                       and He alone,

                                                                                                          could so furnish a home for man.”