Lenten Study – Monday – Day 6

Heart of Courage

To have courage is to listen to your heart, to speak from your heart, and to act from your heart. Courage requires you to stand up for what you believe. It’s who you are. It’s our ability to say what we think, express our opinion, and show our stance, which comes from the center and core of our being. From the center of our being we realize how to respond to the situations we are in. It is courageous to think well of others, to be grateful for them. It’s courageous not to talk behind someone’s back, not to gossip, not to ridicule another. Courage is our inner essence.

“I have said this to you, so that you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!

We encourage you to read and study John 16:29-33.

Prayer

My Lord and my God, I cherish my God-given courage to be strong, resilient and determined to do what is right, rather than what is convenient. I pray that my courage which you give me, will be seen in small ways that will reflect my obedience to your commandments; help me to pass up any gossip or sarcasm, and help me to avoid placing any blame, or to scoot out of taking on responsibility. Teach me to speak wisely when appropriate. I wish to show true compassion and understanding of others. Father, I ask you to help me to be a person who has the courage of my convictions, and I thank you for true and heartfelt courage.

•• Amen ••

 

Lenten Study – Sabbath Sunday – Day 5

The Gift of Friendship

Do you really know yourself? Do you know your weak spot, do you know what you want to be. Do you know what your goals are? What motivates and drives you?  Are these answers something you think about, or are they in your mind….but you reserve them as the hidden parts of “you.”

Its not a bad thing to have our own hidden consciousness.  Our friends and especially those who love us, can see our “hidden zone” better than we can sometimes. It’s quite normal to be seen and understood by others, and it’s often different than the way we see ourselves. Do you have a hidden place in your heart that you yourself cannot see?
Having parts of ourselves that are known only to us, is a very good thing. Treasure your “twilight zone.”

The Value of Friendship

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Prayer

Father God take my poor offering of friendship and keep me mindful every day during Lent, to walk along your side to the miracle of Easter and your resurrection. Help me to accept my weaknesses and my flaws that You and others can see in me. My heartfelt plea now, is that you will lift me up when I fall, and help me to reach for your loving hand and accept your forgiveness. Help me with my sins and my doubts, so that they don’t rob me of joy in my life. Help me to silently salute each person I meet today, and let me greet them with your loving kindness. And as you encourage me….help me to cheer on my “others.”

AMEN

Lenten Study – Saturday – Day 4

So our focus today is to give special and thoughtful time to plan for a true experience during lent that will help us to be ready to repent, to make time for special prayers and to set aside private, hidden and alone time to mentally prepare for a glorious Easter.

Jesus spoke about the hidden life. When we pray or fast or give away, we are to do it in a hidden way. To avoid being praised for it, and to do it in a humble and hidden way. And as we do it, to come closer in our communication with God. We should take time to talk to God and confess that we keep looking for more joy, more peace, and more satisfaction in people and things that surround us. When in our real truth, these things keep us from finding what we truly desire. We know the answer to what we really want and its only…. what God can give us. So I ask you to use Lent especially in these beginning days, to refocus, center yourself on your own place of truth,  and ask God to help you reclaim your true identity. In prayer and confession begin preparation now, giving and sharing time with Jesus  every day.

Read and reread Isaiah 51:13-16. Contemplate time with Jesus. He will give you the words to pray. Do not forget to call out to the Lord for he will surely form your words, your prayers, and you shall be fed spiritual renewal, because he is your Lord and your God.

Prayer

Teach me to pray. Teach me to how to stop the battle with myself and my selfishness, so that I can find calm and my hidden place, where your peace and protection wait for me. I want to find the calm that brings me to forgiveness with you and the others. Help me to calm the many temptations of my modern life and teach me how to balance my prayer life with you, and my worldly life with humanity so that I can please you, and in so doing, affect the calm and peace of my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

 

•• AMEN ••

THE GARDEN MUSEUM, the U. K

The most sustainable Chelsea Flower Show garden ever? Joanna Fortnam explores how Sarah Price and her team for the Nurture Landscape Garden are pushing the boundaries of how sustainable a show garden can be. A forgotten garden in Hadleigh, Suffolk, has provided the creative inspiration for a show garden at Chelsea this year by designer Sarah Price (who won Chelsea gold in 2012 and 2018). “It’s very rare for me to be inspired by gardens,” she says. “I prefer the spontaneous planting I see in nature and on roadsides,” but in this case she was lucky enough to “turn up at the right moment and see something fresh and fleeting”. Her interpretation of a “ghost of a garden” will showcase traditional crafts and she aims to make her project as sustainable as possible. The abandoned garden that provided Sarah’s starting point is not your average plot of brambles, collapsed fence panels and a rusty bike. This is Benton End, a manor house with 16th century origins, once the home of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing run by the plantsman-artist Sir Cedric Morris and his partner Arthur Lett Haines in the Fifties. In its heyday Benton was a legendary bohemian hub, visited by a constant stream of leading writers, artists and creatives…. Keep reading Cooking Masterclass Borough Market: The Knowledge with Angela Clutton If you follow the Thames path northwards from the Garden Museum, you will eventually find yourself at London’s premier food market – the world renowned Borough Market. Angela Clutton is responsible for their latest cookbook Borough Market: The Knowledge which explores the wide variety of traders at the market, along with recipes for their produce. During the class you’ll learn recipes that showcase the joy of shopping and cooking seasonally and hear from Angela on why markets and seasonality matter, explore what spring / summer produce might be and ways to enjoy it. Sample Menu Black rice and feta stuffed chard with spiced yoghurt Roasted asparagus with tarragon mayonnaise / hollandaise Watercress soup with lemon & thyme breadcrumb Sun 30 April, 10.45am – 2pm £90, includes includes a sit down lunch and a recipe pack to take home Book tickets Online talk this week! Alice Vincent: Why Women Grow This week we are delighted to host the official launch of Alice Vincent’s new book Why Women Grow, a major narrative exploration of the relationship between women and the soil. Over the course of two, largely locked-down years, Alice visited the gardens and growing spaces of 45 women from all walks of life. Why Women Grow is a collection of these conversations. Alice will be in conversation with Sui Searle (@decolonisethegarden), herbologist Maya Thomas and Ayurvedic Practitioner Anne McIntyre. Tues 28 Feb, 7pm In-person tickets are sold out, livestream still available! £10 Book tickets Plant of the Week: Juniperus ‘Grey Owl’ By Matt Collins, Head Gardener I have a soft spot for junipers — that beleaguered evergreen of the yesteryear shrubbery — developed almost entirely from encounters with their amorphous, ancient, often scruffy yet always remarkably resilient wild forms. I’ve found them creeping over ruined chapels in the Scottish highlands and spiking the narrow footpaths of Pyrenean woodlands; on Greek islands their bushy habit has harboured little pools of fragrant Mediterranean herbs, and in baking Oregon I walked among whole forests of juniper heady with their own intoxicating aroma (in the drought-ridden high desert there I met a 1,600 year old veteran Western juniper — Juniperus occidentalis — its branches shaped and smoothed by sand and wind, a survivor of centuries of forest fires). Juniper forest in western Oregon The domesticated exception was a visit to Chanticleer Garden in Pennsylvania, where, along with tumbling Michaelmas daisies and golden nassella grass, glaucous agaves and yuccas, gorgeous columnar junipers punctuated the stone steps of the gravel garden. The effect in autumn was strikingly bold, the little statement trees contrasting brilliantly with the softer perennials.

Juniper on Naxos in Greece For our own developing gravel garden at the museum, I wanted to find a juniper that embodied the best of all these qualities — the resilience, the drought and cold tolerance, the berries, fragrance and the contrasting evergreen statement — and landed upon J. ‘Grey Owl’. It’s foliage veers towards the blue-green end of the spectrum (the other end is silver), yet its habit remains full and bushy: it creeps but it also bulks. I took a risk in planting larger specimens — a risk because our soil there is so dry — on account of how slow growing junipers can be, but already after two years in the ground they have put on impressive growth: a cultivar highly recommended. About our gardens Images: Sarah Price; Ben Boscence; Borough Market: The Knowledge image courtesy of Hodder & Stoughton (c) Kim Lightbody; Juniper photos (c) Matt Collins

Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

Lenten Study – Friday – Day Three

THE STING OF REJECTION

Where do we begin our Lenten journey? We are all subject to small rejections every day. Can we choose to be indifferent to these rejections. No one is exempt. We all encounter these hurtful experiences from others. It often comes day after day. Rejection from others often makes us feel left alone. And if we intake these rejections, sometimes resentment can creep into our heart. Perhaps we might feel depressed and left alone. Then we wonder why others inflict rejection on others. It’s unkind. Maybe these rejections can teach us that we can overcome. And maybe we can realize that this earth is not our final dwelling place. This world is a temporary place…while we are traveling on our journey to our sacred place, where God waits for us to be present in the palm of his hand. This is the deep mystery that only God loves us the way we desire to be loved. Perhaps God is rescuing us through teaching us how to overcome earthly rejection. God is providing his protection.

Prayer

Dear Father…. Help me today to ignore my selfish wants and needs. I seek to do your will. Remind me that some rejection can help me to remember that I can overcome…. and when I do, I am gaining strength to continue my earthly journey to seek and find your love and my final resting place with you. Keep me aware that my time here on earth is but a very temporary dwelling place,  and my coming to you will be my final resting place, where there will be no more rejection….only your everlasting love.

AMEN

Ash Wednesday – Lent Begins

My Lord and my Savior God…..let me pay attention to the example of total giving that you demonstrated when you died on the cross for my sins. I pray that my small attempts at sacrificing during this Lenten season, may be counted as only I can try to do. I only hope that when my final days come, I might have done some few things, that will help you to see the better of me. I pray.

For today I choose to ignore my selfish wants and needs and choose instead to do your will, my Lord. I wish to put the good of others above my own. I pray.

•• AMEN ••

Tuesday, Lenten Contemplation and prayerful preparation

Give…Pray…..Fast

The opening of Lent begins tomorrow, Wednesday.

Jesus came to Galilee to proclaim the good news of God, and he said:

”The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news”’

Mark 1:14-15

And so….this call to conversion announces the solemn  opening of the season of Lent. We will mark ourselves with “ashes” tomorrow and the words “Repent and believe in the good news” are prayed over us, As we receive the ashes on our foreheads, we are personally showing our acceptance of our desire to take on a life of showing our personal sorrow, for the sake of this holy scripture. We most often then privately confess how sorry we are for our own sin. And as a symbol of our Lenten commitment, we vow to  give, to pray….and to fast.

Jesus then fasted and prayed for forty days and forty nights. Each of us then take on an internal conversion and we observe Lent in a turning from our sin to grace, each in our own way.

And so now we do hope that you might follow and join our spiritual devotion here, for the next forty days. Blessings!

•  ••••••••••  •

Remember that God loves us and totally accepts

us….

even as we are, in our own human…ness.

 

AMEN

Monday…. Lenten Contemplation and prayerful preparation

Yesterdays Sabbath Day reminds us that the holy season of Lent begins this week on Wednesday. Our Sunday post of reflection and prayer actually is a precursor to bring our head and our heart to the forty-day Holy Lenten journey.

Lent is a time of “spiritual” journey.  In spiritual rest yesterday we actually were preparing our mind and heart for a new state of being. The state of our Lent. We have put aside troubling thoughts, anxiousness, and centered our mind and our heart in Christ. We seek Lenten peace. We can read the psalms, read new prayers, and plan a time of day for a close reunion with God.  We can prepare a small Lenten Altar where we can light a candle and mentally settle in to a reverent and very close time of confession and prayer, and with our own special intention of being more sensitive to the sin in our own lives. 

These ritual preparations for Lent can become a tradition that helps us to rest our weary soul,  and it helps us to prepare for the joys of Easter.

On Wednesday we will traditionally receive “ashes” on our forehead as a symbol of our special day of reflection. The ashes symbolize our mortality – “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

We trust and we hope you might take time out of your day to find a local house of worship where you too can receive holy “ashes.” And as you receive them, we pray that you can seek and choose to do the good Lords will for your life, at home and at your work. Think about the true good of others, above your own….during this traditional Lenten “ashes” reception ceremony. It is indeed a holy moment

Lenten blessings to all……

”Contessa”

Today is my Sabbath Sunday….

…. in silence now…. with Gods rays of sunshine, the smell of the coming of seasonal spring air, the new color of daylight, the tiny new buds I see on trees and bushes, the wind bringing a front of warmer air, and the sound of birds close by, as I am in mindful “Rest.” It’s my way of coming down to earth. Grounding myself….post winter.  Looking forward to a “new spring” with all of its promise. I calm my heart… my body my mind and my spirit and place myself in your everlasting arms of love.

Prayer

My Father God…..I am in your presence and in your Holy Spirit. I am bathing in your cleansing of my sin…for I am sorry for having offended or forgotten thee. I am accepting your forgiveness. I accept new permissions from You to clasp on to a deeper spiritual renewal with You. Praise be to you my only Father God. I now humble myself in great gratitude for your forgiving and all nurturing grace. Thank you Jesus…..Amen

Psalm  46:10

”Be still and know that I am God.”

The Garden Museum News

Spring Plant Fair: New stalls and programme announced! This year we are delighted to welcome both Great Dixter and Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens as Spring Plant Fair stallholders! This will be a rare opportunity for Londoners to buy garden plants in person grown by the beloved and historic nurseries. The fair will also feature bite-size talks covering growing flowery annuals, seed sowing and increasing wildlife and biodiversity in small spaces, as well as a cookery demo and tasting in our studio kitchen. Programme curated by Susanna Grant, founder of Hackney-based shade specialist plant shop Hello There Linda. Sun 16 April, 10am – 4pm £5 Standard, £4 Friends Book tickets Meet Benton End’s new Head Gardener, James Horner The Garden Museum and trustees of Benton End are delighted to announce the appointment of James Horner as Head Gardener of Benton End. An accomplished plantsman, garden designer and former Great Dixter scholar, James takes up the post next month to lead the revival of Cedric Morris’s once renowned and pioneering garden. Garden Museum Head Gardener Matt Collins visited James recently at the Victorian walled garden he rents in East Sussex. James showed Matt around the 3/4 acre site — which he describes as his ‘plant den’ — and discussed the horticultural journey that has led him to this appointment. Matt: I love the sense of both privacy and playfulness that this space has, from the informal stock arrangement to its position in one corner of a wider, wilder walled garden. How did you come to garden here? James: I first came here in January 2014, the winter I left Great Dixter. I was growing annuals and cut flowers for a best friend’s wedding and I was really fortunate that one of the people I was working for offered me the opportunity to rent what was once a very lively productive walled garden. It was a 55 minute drive from my house, the rent was peppercorn and there were no constraints. I didn’t own a place to garden and I knew I needed a space to discover my fashion with plants and flowers. My intention [for the garden] probably did start out as a cut flower enterprise — somewhere to grow cut flowers for events and weddings — but then I was amassing plants, too, so it became like a stash or stock yard, a place to acquire plants, put them in the ground and see what happens. The biggest pressure really is my own standards and expectations! Keep reading New Talk! Rachel Siegfried: The Cut Flower Sourcebook Growing your own flowers for cutting brings the pleasures of the season indoors and cuts out the air miles associated with many shop-bought flowers. Founder of Green and Gorgeous, a flower farm and floral design studio in Oxfordshire, Rachel Siegfried is joined in conversation by House & Garden editor Clare Foster to turn the spotlight on the best perennials and woody plants for cutting and arranging. Whether your goal is to have something to pick from your garden every week or start a cut flower business, Rachel and Clare will discuss some of Rachel’s tried and tested favourites as featured in her new book The Cut Flower Sourcebook and will offer advice on how to lay out and maintain these garden plants for cutting. Tues 4 April, 7pm £20 Standard, £15 Friends/Young Fronds/Students £10 Livestream Book tickets The Puzzle of Lucian Freud’s Zimmerlinde Christopher Woodward, Garden Museum Director ‘This plant escaped the Nazis’ I said to my mother on the platform of Ampthill railway station. My mother, a psychotherapist, has volunteered to join the expedition to the greenhouse of the designer Todd Longstaffe-Gowan to collect a cutting from a zimmerlinde descended from the one which grew in Sigmund Freud’s apartment from Vienna. It was inherited by his grandson Lucian Freud, who left it to David Dawson, the painter who worked as Freud’s studio assistant and who inherited his house in Kensington. That zimmerlinde grows tall at the entrance to Freud’s garden, re-designed by Longstaffe-Gowan. Dawson gave him a cutting. And Todd, in turn, gave us the cutting which we transported to London. It is now a statuesque plant, second prize in our raffle in support of the Freud exhibition. It has, perhaps, one of the most distinguished provenances of any houseplant in the world. And if you enter our raffle by Sunday 5 March you have a chance to win the plant grown from this newest cutting….

Keep reading We recommend: Artscapades Lucian Freud Talk Garden Museum Director Christopher Woodward will be introducing an online talk by curator Giovanni Aloi for Artscapades on Monday 20 February. Giovanni will explore the importance of gardens and domestic spaces as opportunities to rethink our relationships with plants. Mon 20 February, 6pm £10 Book tickets We’re recruiting our next Horticultural Trainee! Now in its tenth year, the Garden Museum’s annual Horticultural Traineeship has been designed to give a gardener of particular talent and ambition the opportunity to explore possibilities for their professional future by placing them at the centre of a busy gardening hub. Previous trainees have gone on to roles as independent garden professionals, in media, parks management and tree surgery, and include Matt Collins, our Head Gardener. Working alongside Matt in the museum gardens, the appeal of this programme is in its diversity of experiences, in facilitating introductions to the stars of the gardening world, and involvement in the Museum’s public programme. This is a part time, four days a week year-long role generously funded by the National Gardens Scheme. Find out more and apply Images: Spring Plant Fair illustration by Lizzy Stewart; James Horner (c) Jessica MacCormick; Rachel Siegfried (c) Eva Nemeth; Still Life with Zimmerlinde, c.1950 Freud, Lucian (1922-2011) Credit: Private Collection. Photo © Christie’s Images/© The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2022/Bridgeman Images

Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk