Still

Yesterday I spoke at a service in a little chapel set in rolling borders countryside, and it was a delight to be there as always, with an enthusiastic congregation, good singing and a real sense of a family gathered to worship.  But what made it better still was the bright sunshine and the autumn colours through the windows.  I enjoy the stained glass windows of our ancient churches, but there are times when the clear glass of the chapel window provides the more inspiring and uplifting image.

I hadn't been back home for long before I felt the clear and unmistakeable first intimations of a cold coming on, and by the end of the afternoon my head was pounding and my nose streaming.  I felt quite wretched all evening, with the occasional mighty sneeze to disturb the rest of the household.  Thankfully, though, I slept well and this morning already feel very much on the mend.

But I've taken the day off even so.  Ann, my wife, is recovering from an operation, and so she needs me to be well as quickly as possible.  And it is nice to have a bit of time to play with, time just to be still in for a while.  At this time of the year especially, as the hours of daylight approach their shortest point, we become all too aware of how busy our lives can get, and how little time we get to be attentively still in.

"What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?"  -  in the words of W.H. Davies.

A friend who phoned this morning was telling me that, her lift to church yesterday having been cancelled, she'd gone for a walk up the hill instead and taken time just to stand and be still, surrounded by the bright autumn colours in the morning sunshine.  Today isn't sunny, but it seems a gentle and soft day, a day in which the colours don't shine so much, but blur together in attractive ways.  I think I'll sit outside for a while (well wrapped up, of course, but the fresh air will I think do my cold some good), and watch the birds on the feeders in our back garden, and the occasional leaf drifting down.  There's plenty to do, but tomorrow is time enough for all that.