Phillip regularly writes an article
for his local magazine the Marshland Mardler
Extract from the May 2004 issue
May is my favourite month. Nature explodes into blossom and every
bush is burning. When Moses slipped off his shoes at the sight of
the burning bush I wonder if it was May time and the bush was simply
in blossom? There is something about the spring that makes us want
to slip off our shoes and reconnect with the earth as 'holy ground'.
May can still surprise us with its burst of energy. Even our national
life marks this month with a surfeit of bank holidays providing
the overworked British public with a chance to savour the spring
as it melts into early summer.
Sadly Ascension Day is not marked in the secular calendar, although
most of Europe marks this feast with a public holiday. Our two holidays,
May Day and Spring Bank holiday, are remarkable in marking nothing
at all. The May Day holiday is rarely on the 1st of May and Spring
Bank Holiday is a sad replacement for the Whitsun Holiday that has
so fallen into neglect that even my computer doesn't recognise the
word. Ironically, Spring Bank Holiday does coincide with Whit Monday
this year for the first time in decades.
Both Ascension and Whitsun (or Pentecost) are exciting stories
which have something of May madness about them. They both describe
events that caused incredulity and amazement when they were first
told in the New Testament. The Ascension of Jesus sounds like rocket
science when it really is about elevation and lift off. The risen
Jesus has become the focus of raised hopes for his followers. Having
gone ahead of them into the heavenly realm he assures them that
they too will follow for as he has told them 'in my Father's House
there are many mansions'. The popularity of this text at funerals
witnesses to the comfort these words provide to those recently bereaved.
Whitsun celebrates the fact that although Jesus has gone ahead of
us he has not left us comfortless but has sent his Holy Spirit to
strengthen and empower us to live the sort of life he himself lived.
Acts chapter two describes the spirit inspiring and illuminating
the disciples to do remarkable things.
Perhaps a little May time madness might help us all see our lives
differently? Do take advantage of these bank holidays. Remember
the origin of the word 'holiday' was 'holy day' and allow your mind
to expand from the material to the spiritual. Then you will see
that every bush is burning and the ground you walk on is holy.
Every Blessing, Phillip McFadyen
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