From Rev'd Louise

Monthly reflection

July 2025 A Celebration of Art and Nature

Since Richard and I moved back to Derbyshire ten years ago, summer has become very much linked for us with the traditional Derbyshire Well Dressings. And every year I am amazed and impressed by the skill and originality and creativity of these wonderful ‘natural’ artworks.

I have discovered that there seem to be as many different explanations about the origins and the age of the Well Dressing traditions as there are villages taking part. But back in the roots of the vast majority of these, there usually seems to be something about celebrating and giving thanks for the wonderful gift of water, that we can so easily take for granted until it is in short supply. And as we celebrate the gift of water, it always feels appropriate to me that how well the Well Dressings last is very much linked to the weather, linked to how much moisture is in the atmosphere, and linked to how quickly the boards dry out.

Every year, I love seeing the incredible skill of those who have been making Wells for years, sometimes for decades. But I also especially enjoy seeing the results of the children’s efforts, the Wells produced by those just starting out on this ancient tradition. My own efforts at natural artwork have been very much more modest. As a child, I remember my brother and I creating a model desert out of what was left of our lawn one particularly dry summer. And I remember one summer holiday when we devoted hours to creating pictures using only chalk from the local hills, and dyes of every colour under the sun that we made from local plants and flowers.

I am pretty certain that there is not much chance of me becoming a skilled artist, with natural or any other materials, but what a childhood spent very close to the natural world has given me, is a very deep appreciation of all life, and a very strong sense of how all parts of the natural world are linked and dependent on one another, and a keen awareness of how we are part of the ecosystems that sustain us.

As a Christian, I care about protecting the natural environment because it is the poorest in the world who are harmed first and harmed most by climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution. But most of all I care about protecting the natural environment because I believe that the natural world is created in God’s image, just as thoroughly as humanity is, and that when we damage the natural world, we hurt God, and we destroy part of God’s image in ourselves.

So my prayer for all of us this month is that we would each grow continually in our awareness of the natural world around us, and we would learn to love all creation as we love ourselves.

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June 2025 Green Cross Code

As I write this, I can look out of my window onto the spiral of bluebells in the middle of the vicarage lawn. The glorious golden flush of dandelions, which lifts my spirits each spring, is just coming to an end, as is the blossom on the cherry tree, but the garden is clearly ‘coming alive’ in other ways. Butterflies, various insects, and small birds are fluttering over the meadow, and around the untidier corners of the garden, and I know the pond is full of newts and tadpoles.

Over the years, I have asked countless times in Christian groups I have run, ‘Where do you most sense God?’ The most common answer I have received – by a very long way – is, ‘in nature.’ Across our nation, activities to restore and protect natural habitats have been shown to draw together people of all faiths and none; people who recognise something precious, often something ‘spiritual,’ that restores our physical, mental and emotional well-being as we seek to engage in a loving and caring way with the ecosystems that we are part of.

When I first became a Christian, in my teens, the Church of England and concern for the environment seemed poles apart. Over the intervening decades, I have watched the Church of England gradually relearning what conservationists and environmentalists have always known; that our well-being is intimately connected with the well-being of the world around us. This ancient awareness is built into the foundations of the Christian faith, but got largely forgotten during the Enlightenment, the ‘Age of Science,’ which led to much of western thinking becoming very narrowly ‘human-focused.’

Until the beginning of June, the Church of England is still in Easter season, the season when we especially focus on and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on Easter morning, and on what Jesus’ resurrection means for us. John’s gospel chapter 12 records how Jesus told his disciples, when he was preparing them for his death and his resurrection, that when he rose from the dead, he would draw ‘all things to himself.’ Countless Bible translations, influenced no doubt by the human-focused Enlightenment, translate this as ‘draw everyone,’ to himself, but the original Greek is very clear. The original Greek word John used is παντος which means ‘everything,’ ‘all that is,’ ‘the whole.’ In churches across our nation, Christians claim regularly to believe in a God who is ‘God of all,’ bit we are very often less good at living as though we believe God is God of all. I ask myself regularly how well I am doing at truly loving all that God has made, truly loving all that his Son Jesus Christ died on the cross to redeem, to draw to himself.

So my prayer for all of us this month is that we would all take time to truly notice and to enjoy God’s creation, and that we would all grow a little more in love for all that God has made and loves.

May 2025 How will you vote?

On May 1st, many regions across the UK, including our local area, will be electing new councillors. As I write this, I have already had leaflets though my letterbox trying to convince me why I should vote for particular candidates.

I am sure you will have heard the view that religion and politics should not be mixed, but this is a view that I disagree with. Underpinning all of Christianity is Jesus’ teaching about how to live well in community with one another. Even though the power of elected councillors is less than that of national government, they still have the ability to influence much that happens across local areas. The work of our elected representatives affects the lives of us all, and so I believe that all people of goodwill should seek to be aware of the work of our councillors and politicians, and should use their influence in legitimate ways where they can.

Christianity has always taught that ‘loving our neighbour as ourselves’ means acting in support of those who are treated unjustly, and speaking out on behalf of those unable to speak for themselves. How we use our vote is one of the ways in which we can do that. Of course, Christians will still end up supporting different political parties, as Christians will have different views about how the needs of all are best met, but I believe that Christian faith calls us not only to vote when we can but also to vote, not for the candidates that we believe will be ‘best for us personally,’ but for the candidates who will do most to create the kind of communities where all can flourish.

So my prayer is that we will not succumb to voter fatigue, but will treat our opportunity to vote as a responsibility and a privilege rather than a chore. I pray that each of us will use our vote in whatever way we believe will best build up our common life together, remembering our neighbours both local and far away and yet to be born, rather than focusing on ourselves alone. And I pray too that our councillors will use wisely the power they are given, seeking to work well with those they agree with and those they don’t, for the good of those who voted for them, and those who didn’t. Above all, I pray for justice and generosity in all our dealings with one another and the world around us.