Perspectives

by Jonathan Bunday

Why was I born so slow?

Why did the Holy One… All seeing. All knowing. Perfect in wisdom.
Supposedly!
See fit to encase my free and dancing spirit within this lumbering carcass?
That creeps, and crawls, and trudges with rhythmical torpidity;
That takes an eternity to get the shortest distance.
A twig across my path seems like a Giant Redwood
A stone like Butser Hill
A puddle like Heath Lake.

Even the busy wood louse scuttles past like an Olympic sprinter
With a cheery “Morning, slowcoach! Nice day!” as he leaves me trailing in his wake.
 
Why did the Creator choose to incarcerate me in this now fat and ever more wrinkled body?
That crawls inch by painful inch across the damp earth
Up the brown plant stem
All to reach the life sustaining leaf – 
My daily bread, my nourishment that nourishes me less and less 
As this geriatric body stiffens and crumbles, and finally gives up the ghost.
Why?
What is it all for? 

I have never doubted how loved I am. 
His love throbs and pulses through every cell of my body.
His delight in me; 
His tender care;
His passion, and compassion, for me, even me
Surely the slowest and least important of His creatures.

And yet, His purpose in creating me remains a mystery -
At least to me.
Soon I shall breathe my last, and die.
Die, knowing I am so loved;
But die without knowing my deeper purpose.
If only I could know.
If only I had even some faint inkling of why He made me like this.
Ah well. 
He knows. 
That has to be sufficient.
He gives, and He takes away.
Blessed be His Holy Name.

The Word saw, and He smiled.
As creation was unfolding on that seismic fifth day;
All of heaven gasping with wonder and delight
As each new creature burst into life upon the Virgin Earth.
Each one revealing something of the Divine Mystery, 
Divine Wisdom; Divine Glory;
The elephant’s strength; the gazelle’s grace;
The eagle’s pinioned, breathtaking beauty in flight;
Each one a mirror, a reflection, of one small part of the Holy One.

Then heaven paused; intrigued.
The humble caterpillar appeared;
Brought into being by a word from The Word.

“Now what reflection is this?” whispers one to another.
“What part of Him does this slow and tiny creature reveal?”

And now, Heaven sees, the caterpillar - having lived so briefly,
Stops, dies, and is encased in a funeral shroud of its own body.

The Word saw, and He smiled.
There are no mistakes.
All are so loved; so precious; so cherished.
All reveal something of His Divine Nature.

“Arise, my love,” whispers The Word.
Heaven holds its breath.
A tremor of movement in the dead pupa.
A flash of colour.

The new creature arises, phoenix-like, called into life by the Beloved.
It gasps with wonder as it soars, and swoops, and flutters on the gentle wind.
The sights, the smells, the delight, the freedom -
Set free from that stiff and plodding body into a glorious burst of dancing speed and energy.

Ground that once took a tortuous day to cover
Is now crossed in a breath and a flap of iridescent wings.
The Redwood beneath me now.
Butser? Hah! A stone! 
Heath Pond? A mere puddle!

The greatest mystery of all time;
The prophetic forerunner of the Incarnate Word 
And for every ransomed child of God until the end of time -
Revealed through an insignificant grub?
Truly, for the foolishness of God is wiser, far wiser, than man’s wisdom;
And nothing 
is insignificant 
To Him.


© Jonathan Bunday 2013

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Forest Walk Part 3 – Living Word

We came across two trees intertwined. One was old with peeling bark, the other younger smoother and vibrant. They were mutually supportive and reminded us of the Living Word – Old and New Testaments.

Neither of the Testaments stand alone. The Old points us to the New and the New is the fulfilment of the Old. Both grow in the same direction and teach us about God – His ways and His person.

Both were alive, producing dense foliage. The leaves that suck the unwanted things from the air and breathe out oxygen. His Word is alive.

Thus ended our walk. I love the way God is so present in all of His creation.

Forest Walk Part 2 – The Vineyard

In John 15 Jesus talks in length about the vine and we were thrilled to find a young vineyard in the middle of nowhere on our walk. Jesus calls himself ‘The Vine’ and us ‘the branches’ but in another sense, since we are called to be like him, we are also like individual vine plants in His vineyard.

What struck us was the time every little vine spent alone in isolation in its little protective sleeve. At a time of national social isolation this was very relevant.

All the time the baby vine is in its sleeve, it feels alone and in the dark. Yet it is a necessary time in order to teach it to grow straight and to grow towards the light. The sleeve may feel restrictive but it is also protecting the vine from pests and predators that would attack its wood to strip its leaves. Whilst it is in the sleeve the vine has no idea that it is part of something vast, that one day it will be producing fruit and contributing towards the rich wine that will be be produced.

How vast is His vineyard and how tenderly He cares for each individual vine, training it to become part of the whole.

“My Father is the gardener.”

Forest Walk – Part One

This time we opted for a forest walk and asked God to walk with us.

Whilst we know he is always with us, there seems to be specific times when He says ‘walk with me’ and this was one of them. We chose to ‘look up’. The majestic pines towered above us, refusing all distractions and reaching straight up to the light.

We felt small amidst the huge trees, yet looked down to find heart-shaped blossom at our feet.

A reminder that His love is all around us, if we have eyes to see.

We saw more of this right at the end of our walk, again reminding us that He – the King whose name is Love – is our Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.