In Greek mythology Narcissus, an attractive hunter, was cursed by one of the women he spurned to fall in love with his own reflection in a clear, glassy pool of water. It’s where we get the term ‘narcissistic’*.
I have been the Minister for the wonderful Mutley Baptist Church in Plymouth for five years now, and I love it. It’s a joy and a privilege to serve them, and they have given me the joy and privilege of taking 3 months’ sabbatical leave, which I have just started. One of the things I want to do during this time is to become more spiritually narcissistic.
What I mean is that I want to become more obsessed with spiritual reflection. If you’ve been a follower of this blog in the past, or have visited some of the back pages, you will know that I used to post what I call ‘bloggages’ (ie posts) quite frequently in the past, but since I have come to Plymouth they have become almost as rare as a scone with jam beneath the clotted cream in Devon. And neither of those things are a ‘proper job’ (to use the local vernacular).
One of my ambitions during the sabbatical leave is to regain the rhythm in my life of reflecting, and writing bloggages is a way for me to do that. So you can expect a much more regular (not daily) flow of them from now on. If you’d like to be notified about them or receive them by email you can subscribe to this blog.
And here’s a wee blogagge to get you started…
Last week I began my time away from my beloved church with a week’s holiday with my wife, Sally, in Scotland. We were staying near Loch Tay and had been warned that it was the beginning of midge season and the wee beasties gather near water and trees with the aim of eating visitors alive. So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that we decided to rent a canoe and go for a paddle on the loch (given that it’s full of water and surrounded by trees). Thankfully the weather was against the midges (windy and rainy – two conditions they can’t cope with) so our skin remained unsampled.
The laddie who oversaw our rental told us that there was an osprey nest within range of our paddling and pointed out where it was, so we set off in that direction. While we were still a way away we decided that a random clump of twigs and branches at the top of a tree near the loch must be the nest and I thought I could see a head poking up.
As we drew close it became obvious that this was the osprey’s nest and it was in residence. We paddled past serenely (or as near to that we we novices could manage) and as we did we could see an osprey looking down at us, watching us with its beady eye.
Thankfully it must have decided we weren’t a threat as it stayed in its eyrie, but kept a wary eye on us.
We didn’t take any pictures (the one above is a free-use image from Pixabay). One reason was that it wouldn’t have come out very well from the range we were at, and the second was that my phone was sealed inside a dry-bag and I wanted to keep it dry. So rather than photographic evidence we have our memories of it as souvenirs (which is appropriate since ‘souvenir’ in French means ‘to remember). It seems that all our encounters with ospreys are only recorded in our memories – I wrote about an earlier one here.
As I reflected on this special moment I was reminded of how the way God cares for us is described in the Bible as being like a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings. I don’t know if there were any chicks or eggs in the eyrie but from the vigilance of the osprey in the nest I know that it would have been extremely protective of any that were there and it got me pondering whether God’s like that too.
I am very protective of those I love – family, friends, church – I guess we all are. And in the Bible God is described as a fortress or refuge, as a good shepherd guarding and guiding the flock, as one who never leaves us or lets us down. I reckon that we could add ‘like an osprey protecting their chicks’ to that.
This happens in many ways, but I think particularly happens through other people (whether or not they’re aware that God’s using them that way). What do you think? Has that been your experience?
Be blessed, be a blessing
* see also some political figures
nukelearfishing 
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