My thanks to Melissa Foat and Debbie Marshall for these photos. Enjoy these photos to experience some of what we did. Examine in silence imagining bird song and the air on your face.
On an exceptionally bright and warm day in February, a few of us gathered for Forest church including the first dog participant named Merlin! An appropriate name I thought. We met in Wood Street by the village green. Whilst waiting to start we witnessed a heron take-off calling loudly. The two youngest members climbed a very large oak tree which has a certain attraction of its own!
The session commenced with our prayer of seven directions which we use usually use to start with. It was followed by another prayer from Tree of life and life of trees, resource created by A Rocha, Christians in conservation. Our theme was similar Trees in winter; a celebration.
I gave out some tools to enable us to engage with the trees and natural surroundings. These tools included a set of winter tree and lichen identification guides, Sensio Divina based on Lectio Divina, a colour card from B & Q and a summary to practical phenomenology based on Emma Kidd’s book Finally Seeing (https://sensinglife.net). I encouraged everyone to be like children as we walked participating in silence for the first part.
We went at a very slow pace as each took time to fully engage in aspects that caught our attention. I personally was thrilled to see how each person was having time to appreciate nature in an unhurried way and getting really engrossed in the process. Even I was amazed at some new things that I missed in my research walks.
We were enjoying ourselves so much in the end that I had to unfortunately speed the proceedings up to get us to the next point as we were not as far along as I had anticipated!
We reached a pond on Broadstreet Common, which I only discovered in my reconnaissance. It is marked on a map but without any paths leading to it. The first time of finding it I was disappointed that I couldn’t get close to it and had to observe it through a hedge. On the third visit I discovered with joy quite by accident, that it was accessible! I thought it would be a great little meeting place. We stood on the bank above the pond. I read a confession on how we have treated The Creator’s good creation, from the afore mentioned A Rocha material and when a response was required the others joined in.
We were moving off on our way back and Debbie Marshall had a wonderful moment of watching a little vole disappearing under the bracken under her feet. I like to think that it had been listening and joining in with us as we stood with it!
At the beginning of the walk I had suggested that when walking back that we share things that we had enjoyed and how God may have spoken to us – or just have some time to catch up with one another.
Back at the green where we had started, I finished with a short reading about current studies on trees from The Hidden Life of trees – What they feel and how they communicate by Peter Wohlleben. (I had been recommended this book by Ramon at the beginning as we had been talking and he didn’t know that I had the book with me!) Then I read a prayer from Annie Heppenstall’s, The Book of Uncommon Prayer about trees to close.
We all in different ways came away with something from the time together. I personally was encouraged by conversation with Ramon as we shared our experiences of being Forest School Practitioners and how we relate to nature. I loved how Merlin had learnt even as a young dog about walking slowly!