Seeker

I really don't like cold weather and today is bitterly cold. Cold suits some people, but not others, certainly not me. Some flowering plants can be at their best in winter. One example of this is the humble snowdrop.   To see snowdrops gives me hope that spring is coming. In the words of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore , they inspire me in lockdown to keep putting one foot in front of another, to keep going, in the hope that “tomorrow will be a good day”. Snowdrops are also called ‘Candlemas Bells’ because they often flower at the feast of ‘Candlemas’ (2 February). If you don’t know what that feast is about take a look at the post Candlemas 2018 . In our garden the earliest green shoots of snowdrops appeared just after Christmas. They were at their best on 2 February, but are still flowering now. Towards the end of the dark cold winter, snowdrops are a sign of more new life to come when spring really gets going. For many months, they hide under the earth, beneath the dead leaves in...

Today marks the half-way point of winter in the northern hemisphere. By this time we really notice the hours of daylight getting longer, the snowdrops and aconites flowering in response and green shoots coming up from the dark earth. So it makes sense on 2nd February to celebrate Candlemas, a feast of light with focus on the true Light of the World, Jesus Christ. Candlemas is also called the Presentation of our Lord. It is based on the story from Luke 2: 22 - 40. That account from Luke's Gospel tells how 40 days after Jesus' birth, Mary and Joseph took him to the temple in Jerusalem for Mary's purification rituals and to present her son as the law required.  There they meet 2 faithful old people, Simeon and Anna who had longed and prayed for the promised Saviour of their people. The image that accompanies this post is a 12th century artist's imaginative and devotional portrayal of that story . Both Simeon and Anna would have been familiar with  Ezekiel’s vis...

Today could be called the last look back at Christmas, the day when some people clear away any Christmas decorations still around. We are now 40 days after the day of celebrating the birth of Jesus. What is celebrated today in the Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas) is based on the story told by Luke in chapter 2 of his gospel, verses 22 - 40 . Luke 2: 22 - 40 tells how Mary and Joseph, in accordance with custom and religious law, took their baby Jesus to be presented in the temple. There they encounter 2 prophets, who had each been waiting, praying and longing for the coming of a Saviour. These 2 people were Simeon (who was probably an old man) and Anna (who was certainly an old woman). Both of them recognised in the infant Jesus the one for whom they were waiting and they rejoiced. Simeon's song of rejoicing, known as the 'Nunc Dimittis' is said or sung daily at Evening Prayer in many places throughout the world. It is a prayer to be allowed to depart in pe...

This morning I saw the sunrise. I have seen it before, but not very often during these last exceptionally wet weeks of winter. What a welcome sight, what a lovely sign of hope after so much rain and storm, a brief shining before the clouds gather and the downpours begin again on our sodden land. I especially noticed it today because of the old saying that if the sun shines on 2nd February so that an animal can see its shadow there will be at least 6 more weeks of winter. If Candlemas be fair and bright, come winter, have another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,   Go, winter, and come not again. Well, it looks as if we're going to have a mixture here today, some 'fair and bright' and some 'clouds and rain' so who knows what weather is coming in the next 6 weeks. February 2nd is the day the church celebrates 'The Presentation of Christ in the Temple', also called 'Candlemas' i.e. the feast of candles. The old tradition began w...

Today is the feast of 'The Presentation of Christ in the Templ e'. This feast is also known as 'Candlemas'. Its about the story told by Luke in chapter 2: 22-40 of his gospel, featuring Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and 2 elderly people, Simon and Anna.  The old woman Anna is the one who often doesn't get remembered as much as the others, but she deserves to be.  In Tissot's painting (shown here) Anna's arms are raised in prayer and praise as she saw the sign of her deepest hope fulfilled. On 14th January 2012, my #digidisciple post at the  BigBible   project  'Anna: A Life of Prayer ' was published in my monthly series 'Blogging Women of the Gospels'. This series about women of the gospels is intended for individual or group Biblical reflection or discussion. So in case you might find that helpful, h ere is what I wrote in that post about Anna: Do you know who you are? What do others see in you? How do you think God sees you?...