Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature.
Oh my goodness it's cool today!
There's a northerly wind whistling and I've been up on Dartmoor which is very cold.
I needed a pair of gloves today and I've actually walked back into the village and I've come right into the village itself because I wanted to have a little peek at the spring flowers.
We've got prune roses coming up,
There are daffodils coming up,
The snowdrops are now well and truly over in our village anyway,
And there's a cold wind you might hear it whistling through the evergreen trees above my head and I'm looking forward to walking up the hill back home and just getting ourself a little bit warmer than I am at the moment.
And today's reflection is one of well quite sad really.
I've been listening to some of the news and hearing about the wars and the fighting that's going on in different places in the world and today it's really touched me and I'm just aware of people that are in communities that are being bombed or finding themselves homeless or scared for their lives.
I'm reflecting on the people who've got loved ones in war zones who are concerned about their welfare.
I'm reflecting on the families of service personnel,
Those people that go and fight on behalf of a country and how it must be so challenging for those left behind not knowing what's going to happen to your loved one.
And I guess really what it boils down to is I'm reflecting today well it's not really on who's right or who's wrong or whether we should fight wars or the morality of war.
It's actually just thinking about the impact of war.
I at the moment am pretty much in a little bubble here in England as I go on my walks not directly impacted by war and yet I feel this sorrow and sadness and this intense love for those that are impacted by war.
And I thought today it would be good just to reflect on that in so much as I do feel pretty helpless in the world politics and what I can make a difference with.
It can feel too big,
Too much going on,
Too much sadness in the world,
Too much for me to contemplate or engage with and yet I also know that I am so drawn to reflect and be present to love.
That is something I can do and being present to love is not about taking sides.
It's not about saying one person is right or one person is wrong.
It's about standing in the truth of love,
The truth of who I am,
Who you are,
Who we all are and allowing that to come into the world.
As I look at these beautiful primroses beside me,
Just a few weeks ago there was nothing here to see and yet now they have come up through the soil and they are like little pockets of sunshine on the ground and that is what I endeavour to provide with the love that I am bringing to this world.
I can be like a primrose,
A little pocket of love,
A little beautiful yellow flower that brings warmth to the heart of others.
That I can do and that I will continue to do.
And so today I am asking you to reflect as well gently and these are troubling times.
Politically many people are finding themselves divided politically with friends and family.
There is a real sense of anger and sadness.
There is a real sense of wanting to be right and then being right to make somebody else wrong and I'm saying that there is another way and we are all drawn to respond in whatever way makes sense to us and if this makes sense to you then my request is that you do stand in love and like the primrose grow love into the world.
So that's my reflection today is to come back to love and to ask you to come back to love if that is what feels right for you and it doesn't matter how small you are in the world you can make a difference.
You can warm someone's heart.
You can smile and make others smile and do not underestimate how much we need that in the world today.
I'll be back tomorrow with another five minutes in nature.
If you've got any comments I always love to hear from you if not I'll connect with you again tomorrow.
