Hello Everyone
As the nursery rhyme goes…..”Rain, rain go away, come again another day.” Unfortunately, it does just that, again and again and again.
We haven’t been plagued by the storms here in the valley. Yes there have been some branches blown down, but we have experienced nothing like that the rest of Cornwall suffered. However, what we have not had in any single incident we have received in a series of incidents, culminating in an almost impossible to walk on surface. It feels as if you are walking on a raft, as you traverse the meadows. The surface is floating on a sea of mud. I have never seen anything like this before. Even in the last 24hours there has been over 60mm of rain, and that on top of a saturated landscape.
Here at the Mill we like to see rain, for it means there will be more than enough water for the waterwheel, so there will be plenty of hot water to boot. In years gone by, before we had a decent battery bank, it was a case of, “Great, it is raining. Put a wash on.” However, you can have too much of a good thing, and too much water can damage the system. Now you have to keep an eye on the weather forecast and pray for a balance in all things, not too much and not too little.
Balance is a fact of life. For example too much personal confidence and you come across as arrogant, too little and you are a push-over. Also, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
There is also an obvious parallel between this and spirituality!! Think about it.
Jesus’ summation of the Law of Moses, that is repeated nearly every communion service, is to Love God, and Love your Neighbour as yourself.
Notice he didn’t say it in any particular order such as love God best, then love your neighbour, and lastly love yourself. That is very common mistake that people make. He is actually saying that too much of one is as bad as not enough of it. It depends on balance between all three.
You can see the truth of the situation even if only looking at the relationship between your neighbour and yourself. If you despise your neighbour, you lose some of your own self-respect. If you retain your self-respect, then you cannot help but hold your neighbour in respect also, even if you are not in agreement with him or her.
When you include the Divine (as you might see it) then if you despise your neighbour and lose some self-respect, then you damage your relationship with the Divine. If you respect the Divine, then ipso facto you have to respect yourself and your neighbour as a matter of course. It is all a matter of balance.
Whether it rains or not we must weather the weather, whether we like it or not. However, we have choice as to whether we respect each other, God’s creation and the Divine itself.
Hmmmm. Sermon over for another month.
The usual updates are there – Planting by the Moon, and Astrology for Healers and Therapists.
Have a good Imbolc and blessings
John
