Another tale from a heatwave, in which I feel too hot to do anything but sit by a pond and sip a cool drink, then get caught up in the natural world which takes me beyond myself to eternity.
The day dawned hot and dry and following breakfast muesli and fruit, we sat in our apartment and silently agreed that we didn’t want to move. We certainly didn’t want to get into a car and take to the country lanes round about. The heat had drained our energy for thinking of fun holiday things to do.
It was June 2026 and we were in the northwest of England. We were outside of the heatwave danger zone, but it was much hotter than we were used to and that day, we just sat.
Our accommodation was in beautiful grounds, in what is normally a rain drenched part of the country, and the effects of the drought hadn’t stricken the land. We had some ancient woodland to walk in, and the grounds were lush with green grass and huge trees.
When we ventured outside that day, we carried drinks in a cool bag with us and walked across the grass to a pond. There, we found a table and chairs and sat down. We sat, sipping cool beer and taking in the hot, heavy summer day.
My choice of drink was alcohol free Guiness (other alcohol-free options are available), so what happened next was not because I was under the influence.
It felt like I was wrapped up in green. There was green grass beneath my feet, green trees above my head, green plants surrounding the pond and the water reflected all that green back to me.
Have you ever stopped to think how many different shades of green there are?
I took in the sights, felt the warmth of the sun, tasted the beer and smelt the dank foliage, but gradually it was sound which dominated my senses.
Birds sang, unseen in the thick leaves, moorhens rustled through rushes as they left the cover of the bank and squabbling mallards flapped, splashed and quacked, but it was another sound, one less often heard by me, which really caught my attention.
Splosh, it went and then splosh again. The fish were coming up to the surface, gulping at flies. I felt more and more entranced by the soothing sploshing and then this idea plopped into my head.
The words Jesus would have heard these same sounds, laid themselves down in my mind. Thinking about it logically, I’m sure Jesus did hear fish jumping and waterfowl splashing, after all, he spent a lot of time by a lake, but the cool logic came later.
This was a tender moment, the sort of moment that can last a lifetime. The sort of moment that surprises us and connects us to something bigger than ourselves and bigger than the world we know. Something out of time. Something spiritual. Something we might call eternity.
For me, Jesus is the person who makes that connection and the hot sun, enveloping greenery and sploshing fish that day connected me to him.
Who, or what connects you to something bigger than yourself and your familiar world?
I’d love to hear.
Wander well,
Mandy.
Things I love:
- Thurnham Hall in Lancashire.
- Drinking 0% Guiness.
- This Bible verse (I don’t do Bible verses very often)
God has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has set eternity in our hearts. The book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 11.
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