This week we visited Flatford with our friends from Australia. It is a lovely National Trust place to visit. John Constable was born nearby and it is where he painted many of his paintings, the most famous being The Haywain. He is one of my favourite artists so to visit again is a treat.
There were a group of primary schoolchildren fishing for grubs and two of them had caught a very small fish. Their excitement was infectious and a joy to behold. We walked onto the bridge and rested looking own into the water. There was a duck with 8 bundles of fluffy ducklings swimming around. They were so small and looked only a few days ago.
We have been to Flatford many times but somehow this was very special, we were with friends and we all appreciated the new life around us – fish, duckling and very excited young children.
A few selective lines of a hymn kept going through my mind:
New every morning is the love
Our wakening and uprising prove.
New mercies, each returning day
Hover around us while we pray.
(StF 137)
We give thanks to God for enabling all of this around us.