I have just been for a walk through some of the fields surrounding the village of Cumnor, here in Oxfordshire. The sun is shining and a gentle breeze is blowing. Walking in this gentle landscape, fertile in its spring season, the feeling that all is well in the world came to me...
How sad it is when we lose that feeling, the feeling that all is well. And how easily we allow it to be crushed, by watching the endless stream of negative news on television and reading the same ugliness in the newspapers.
Here is the news from the footpaths around Cumnor today: The crops are growing healthily. The trees are alive with fresh new leaves. The human beings are, without exception, smiling and saying hello in a friendly way. The birds are chirping exceedingly merrily. The neighbour’s cat, though, did look rather guilty when I came round the corner, so it might have been up to no good. Apart from that, everything is lovely.
And this loveliness is not a neutral thing. It is more than just the absence of negativity. It is glorious. Watching the verdant leaves fluttering in the wind, the thoughts subside and give way to the feeling: Glory be!
