Brief Encounter

A lovely thing happened to me the other day. Out kayaking on the river Dart above Totnes I heard, just behind me, a sound like a rapidly deflating tyre. Turning around, I found myself face to face with a Grey Seal, head above the water, regarding me with apparent interest. We stared at one another for thirty seconds or so before it gently vanished beneath the water.

I was, of course, entranced - what a lucky encounter! But it was going to get even better. I waited for a couple of minutes and eventually spotted the seal popping up a couple of hundred yards down the river. Naturally, I set off to follow it, trying to make sure I kept a a distance so it wasn't spooked. But Seal was having nothing of that! It was happy to get closer and closer. If it came up behind me and I wasn't looking, it would make the 'snorfling' noise to get may attention: If we were in eye contact, it remained silent. It was having a great day human-spotting!

And so we passed through busy Totnes together, with the traffic roaring on the bridge and families playing and picnicking in the park. A couple of people shouted 'Seal!' and pointed, but most remained unaware of this wonder in their midst - heads down as they trudged home from work; joggers obliviously cocooned in iPod world; drivers stuck in the traffic and looking bored and frustrated.

Eventually I had to say a reluctant goodbye to 'my' seal and turn around, to paddle back feeling utterly blessed and full of delight and joy. I was reminded of a quotation I once read - though I have been unable to source it - that to search for God was like trying to catch a glimpse of some shy wild animal. Much time is spent watching, waiting, hoping, planning to put yourself in the right place. Yet often, when we do see it, it is in the midst of something else, totally unexpected, a moment of grace and gift. So it is with God. We may spend time in prayer, in good deeds, in study - and often it can seem dry and hard. Then, suddenly, will come a moment of grace as God is suddenly with us. Others around may not see Him - but we will - and we will be lost in joy and treasure that moment for ever.

Mowing the Lawn

In these days after Easter, the weather has turned suddenly warm. We've gone from being a nation of people huddles grumpily around the fire staring out at the lashing rain to a people quite literally full of the joys of spring. Suddenly, the lanes are full of cyclists, walkers and riders. People are sitting in their gardens, which are suddenly burgeoning, and I have even met people who are delighted to be mowing the lawn. Yes, suddenly life seems good again!

It's worked well for me, having a few days off after Easter as I've been able to get back outdoors for a brief break walking, sailing and kayaking. The Vicarage lawns remain long, but I'd quite relish couple of hours out there with the mower.

It's so good that this release from the long grip of winter has come with Easter, for this is what the Easter season is all about. What so many of us are feeling is a sudden up-rush of energy, an unexpected enthusiasm for getting things right and straight, a chance to play, and even a joy in the mundane things - like mowing the lawn - that we will doubtless be grumbling about within a few weeks.

It gives us a little glimpse into what it was like for those first Christians as they turned from a spiritless and despondent group of ex-followers locked away for fear of what the crowds might do to them into - well, still a bunch of ordinary people, but people who had met Jesus raised from death to a new kind of life. They were brave where before they had been fearful. They spoke of their faith instead of hiding it away. They had a zest for life which had not been there before, but they were not afraid of death, for they now knew that death was a gateway into a new and different kind of life.

And that it what it can still be like for anyone who wants to be an ordinary, everyday follower of Jesus.