Slow Down to Praise

You know this business I mentioned in my last sermon - slowing down to praise God for his creation? Well, I shared in a delightful conversation with a friend I met in a local garden centre.  He mentioned how he had been transported back as a child to Birdlip Hill. My mention of this scenic viewpoint in the sermon had triggered memories of how his grandparents, who lived in a village near Gloucester, would take him up to drink in the same vista that I had described - with awe and wonder.  He told me how he, like me, can close his eyes and picture the breathtaking scenery above the Cotswold scarp, as the Vale of Gloucester falls away before your feet. Indeed, he thinks he may still have an old photograph!  To sit with hot chocolate and scone and share together vivid memories of the same glorious view of God's creation was a surprisingly good slow down moment.

The eclipse experience last week provided a more obvious occasion . Behind the new estate that has mushroomed behind our house open fields lie flat towards the horizon.  The moment of closest eclipse was around 7:08 pm in Cambridge, so I set out about 6:45 to walk through the houses onto the path that runs beside the fields.  I took my best sunglasses but was horrified to realize how useless they were. With my Fuchs Atrophy eye disease I am meant to avoid sunlight.  Just as I discovered this my kind church neighbours returned from vigil with their grandchildren. 'You should really use these eclipse glasses!', she said, holding out a pair of cardboard galaxarium eclipse glasses. What an idiot I felt when I donned them. The moon was moving ever closer, the crescent was narrowing. I could see it so clearly and safely.  

Walking to the path I found people strung along its length, looking upward. Groups large and small, couples, singles. Silent. Totally absorbed. Looking upwards.  I walked a little way along to find a space. The quietness had a quality of awe and wonder. Nearby a young woman was resting on her bicycle. She had no eclipse glasses and was barely able to look into the glare. I offered my loaned pair and recognizing that I was a harmless old guy she willingly took them! Her face was transformed with delight. It was near the time of maximum eclipse. Just wonder. Talk about slowing down to praise God for his creation. This amazing cosmic event before our eyes.  After a while she told me she saw the total eclipse in 1999 when she was a small child growing up in Greece. How unforgettable that was, and now a further experience was added. 

I know you can stare with wonder and not praise God, but how glorious to praise him when you are truly moved with awe!