Saturday 12th April

I was out walking the dog the other day down beside the river not far from where I live.   Its a very quiet spot despite being not far from the road and the shops.  Set down in a bit of a dip and lined by trees on either side its a little path of tranquility only frequented by the occasional dog walker.  Most of the time I dont see another soul there.   On the day in question Josh was with me and we were going slowly because he is not well and doesnt have any energy.  But I thought it would be good to get him out in some fresh air

Spring is springing with a vengeance.  The trees had almost overnight suddenly burst forth into green.  Catkins and pussy willow and celandines all coming into flower but the thing which I noticed most was the birdsong.  It was so loud and such variety.  It sounded as though the birds were having a singing competition !  The river was gurgling along in full flow - nature in all its glory.

This weekend is Palm Sunday when we think about Jesus facing His last week on earth and entering Jerusalem for the very last time.  The phrase that has been going round my mind the past few days is this one

from Luke 19

37 Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,38 saying:

“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’[d]
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

The whole earth is full of His glory and everything on the planet is groaning and waiting for the sons of God to be revealed.  The birds sing His glory, the river gurgles His praise and the wind rustles the leaves of the trees so that they clap their hands in praise.

But I also wonder if the stones might not also tell God's praise in other ways too.  Twice in the past couple of years I have come across stones which have definitely been Gods message to me.  Im not sure if you can se the one on the left very well but there are three distinct crosses somehow apparent in the stone.  If you Google 'heart stones' you will see thousands of pictures of heart shaped stones people have found and photographed.  :-)  The very stones are telling us that God loves us.  How cool is that ?

So this week as we think about the lead up to Easter and focus on the journey Jesus made to the cross lets not forget to look out for the signs that He is giving us in nature.  Lets listen to the birdsong and marvel at the wonderful detail in each opening leaf and flower petal.  Let's expect to hear His voice in the roaring waterfalls and look out for the hidden messages of love written in the stones.