As I was
sitting in my study the other day some movement out of my window caught my eye.
The most amazing sight of five geese flying across my garden! They were so low
that I felt that I could almost reach out and touch them. As I was gathering my
breath at this encounter with nature, they flew back across again. Just
wonderful.
They brought to mind the lines from Violet Jacobs' poem ‘The Wild
Geese’.
‘And far abune the Angus
straths I saw the wild geese flee,
A lang, lang skein o’ beatin’ wings, wi’ their heids towards the sea,’
A lang, lang skein o’ beatin’ wings, wi’ their heids towards the sea,’
It is a poem about longing for home. So many of us can
identify with such longing just now. Longing for life to return to the way it
used to be. Longing to be able to earn a living again. Longing to do the simple
things in life that we used to take for granted – visiting the library, coffee
with friends, wandering around the shops. Longing to be reunited with loved
ones.
We are called to be patient in these times of longing.
Patience is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit and we can tap into that
through our faith. Through our belief that God is with us in our longing and
can give us the patience to keep going, no matter how tough it can be, until the
day when we again have the freedom of the geese to go wherever we want.
