Newsletter - 6 April 2025
“Oh, to be in England… now that April's there”
One of the things I most appreciate about living in England is spring. In my native Canada, spring comes late. Only after a few weeks of “brown spring”, as the soil warms after the severe cold of winter, is there a brief explosion of blossoms and buds in May. Not so in England! The first hints of spring appear in February and unfold in ever more glorious stages into early June.
I understand Robert Browning’s longing to be In England “now that April’s there.” (from his poem “Home Thoughts from Abroad”). He had spent the winter in Italy – something we might envy during the bleak grey and cold of English winter. But when April comes, he longs to be back in England to witness the bursting forth of new life.
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England now!
Poets are able to speak to what all of us experience with the lengthening days of spring. Something that has lain dormant within is suddenly awakened. We feel ourselves coming back to life with the same sudden surge of life that spring brings to fields and forests.
This parallel of awakenings – both interiorly and in the natural world – is found in William Wordsworth’s poem “The Daffodils”. It was written in mid-April as he wandered alone the hills of the Lake District and suddenly came upon
a host of golden daffodils…
fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Their sight lifted him from his pensive mood into great joy. What is more, the memory of this unexpected joy remained and when recalled
…my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
April is upon us, and we are in England. It is time to leave behind the grey coverings of winter and go out into the garden and take a long loving look at the wonders of nature coming back to life. It is the same life force given by God to flowers and trees that is given to us who stand in awe at the wonders of spring.
Deacon Ted Wood, ccn
Focus of the week
LENTEN JOURNEYS
During Lent this year we will be offering video testimonies of journeys taken by people in our parish. This week we hear from Anne Charlotte who gave birth to a son with a severe development delay and how this has transformed her and her whole family.
Video available from the Parish Website www.christthekingcockfosters.co.uk
FINDING GOD IN NATURE
CCS in collaboration with Our Common Home Project
Join us for a reflective and inspiring day exploring how we can connect with God through nature. Drawing on Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment.
Saturday 26 April 2025
10am – 3pm
To register please email cockfosterscs@rcdow.org.uk (or phone the parish office)
Suggested donation: £30 (£20 unwaged concession and Cockfosters parishioners). Includes refreshments and light lunch.