Today I started preparing for a Celtic Retreat day which we are giving at the end of the month. In the days of the Celts, Scotland was a densely wooded country and the population tended to live on the fringes, close to the sea. So, of course, they also were more likely to travel by sea than by land. So I suppose it’s only natural that the Celtic prayers are so often taking water or the sea as a theme. I love this modern prayer, in the Celtic style, written by Ray Simpson of Lindisfarne. I am sure this one will be used on the 28th June.
Lord, you are my island,
your bosom is my nest.
You are the calm of the sea,
in that peace I rest.
You are the waves
on the shore’s glistening stones,
Their sound is my hymn.
You are the sound of the birds,
their tune I sing.
You are the sea breaking on rocks,
I praise you with the swell.
You are the ocean who laps my being,
in you I dwell.
Have you been watching Springwatch on BBC2, I wonder. I love it so much that I have the web cam open all day and can pop in to watch the nests and activities around the river bank.
I just loved the Wren’s nest. That tiny wee bird had nine chicks in her tiny wee nest. How could a bird the size of a wren actually lay nine eggs! That is just incredible. Even more incredible is the fact that all nine of these wee squawking beings fledged successfully at the end if the day.
What amused me most was the squabbling that went on amongst them all, especially as they grew bigger and space became extremely limited in the miniscule ball of nest. Frequently one or another was scrabbling back into the safety of the nest from its outer margins where it had landed when it lost a fight. How none actually landed on the ground to be devoured by a predator was a miracle.
So if I am praying Ray’s Celtic prayer, I had better hang on in that nest in God’s bosom. I’m not much of a swimmer!
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