A Time to Allow the Spiritual Journey to Blossom - Come queen of months in company wi all thy merry minstrelsy. (John Clare - May, from The Shepherd's Calendar).

This most delightful of months riots with exuberant growth in garden, hedgerow and countryside - "lushing" is how Clare describes it - which lifts the spirits and rejoices the heart. The Psalmist has no hesitation in attributing this to God's bounty and his pleasure: "Thou shalt renew face of the earth ... the Lord shall rejoice in his works."

The Lord has also - through the agency of the Chapter Clerk - provided me with a small piece of his creation to tend, in the form of our new garden. It is a voyage of discovery. A few weeks ago the ground appeared barren. Then, suddenly, it sprang into life and produced first snowdrops and crocuses, then hyacinths, daffodils, japonica and primroses, in profusion.

We are waiting eagerly to see what will happen next. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose". Indeed.

And this renewal of the earth happily coincides with our Resurrection days, in which we celebrate the great festivals of Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. The subdued gestation period of Lenten discipline has helped us reflect on our faith, and has now brought forth vivid intimations of abundant and eternal life.

Our services in the Cathedral have been providing liturgical and dramatic shape for all this, to help us focus on the great Christian truths and keep our awareness of them fresh. For the spiritual life also needs to be a journey of discovery if it is not to wither. The burgeoning beauty of the created world at this time of year can fire us with a sense of the divine: "I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will praise my God while I have my being."

Charles Mitchell-Innes, Vicar of The Close

10:55am Tuesday 6th May 2008

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