Summer was a season of gardens for me, of scenery, greenery and growth.
‘One is nearer God’s heart in the garden than anywhere else on earth’
‘A season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ awaits.
Special authors formed an ageless line, which we all remember.
The marking of a change, the nearness to our Creator,
The beauty of turning,
a metamorphosing of time, the rotation of earth, the fading of summer.
This is pure eco magic, the sensitivity of earth in relation to the sun.
As we tilt away we lose hours and heat, the leaves react, the light changes and we all sense a difference.
As I sit contemplating in my garden I hear the sounds of rustling leaves, I smell the cool freshness of recent raindrops.
I see green turning ochre and russet, rustling and drying as their life is near an end.
What beauty and excitement the gardens provide from Hoxton to Myddleton from Sky gardens to Kew Gardens,
Holland Park, Regents Park, Olympic park….what beauty !
Hidden green squares, tiny courtyard cafes, expanses of Heathland, London has it all…. the green city.
Inspiration, celebration, nature at its best.
Wildlife, woodlands, wetlands, parklets, parklands, cycle tracks, city farms and all the rest…
Where you choose to gaze affects how you feel.
If you look at the dirt, the steel, the towerblocks, the pollution it could make you sad, even gloomy.

If you view the hope in nature, in people, in smiles and regenerated places.
There is a sense of newness and a nugget of hope for the future where everyone is included and valued.
As I ponder my Eutopian vision where everyone would have a home and a garden, with food in their larder, clothes and shoes in their wardrobe.
Each child would regularly enjoy a day at the sea or the farm and be free from sickness and disease.
Where families are valued, supported and cared for and the elderly can relax and walk around the streets in safety.
Where there is meaningful well paid work for all who want it and for those who don’t, a fresh vision of hope to get them energised.

In my Eutopia there is peace and unity no more strife or war or divisions or hatred.
This may be a dream? or it could be just through the wardrobe……
Into Narnia’s spring where all hope is found and Aslan reigns and Cair Paravel’s rule is just and fair.

Join me on the journey to make this place better, where winter ends and we enjoy an endless summer where God is found walking with us in the garden of our time.

As we reflect on making our journey worthwhile, changing our landscape and investing in people, projects and potential.I encourage you to forge ahead for your vision to become a reality.

From One pearl to another

Margaret Dexter-Lewis

28/8/19

References
Chronicles of Narnia -The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis

To Autumn by John Keats

God’s Garden by Dorothy Frances Gurney

Inspired by Revelation 21 The Bible