The First of September is the first day of Spring down the bottom end of the planet. NZ’s national tree is the Kowhai which comes into bloom around now with masses of yellow flowers often photographed against an azure sky, a spectacular curtain fall to the last dreary days of winter.

These images are my own, photos I have taken of the tree outside the window of my Happy Room. Those who know me personally know that my Happy Room is also my quilt studio and from where I write to my friends around the world. Judah’s Journal has been a little neglected as of late with the pressure of real life events taking up time and leaving little space for much else. It is still nice to see that visitors have continued to call despite no new postings, and they often come as a result of searches on a wide range of subjects, Professor Google frequently pointing them this way. Of note has been the interest in Mother Teresa and her lovely simple little poem to be found here. Mother Teresa was a very special person, a saint by virtue of her salvation in Christ, a saint in modern secular terms, and a Saint by recognition of the Church. If you have not seen it yet, there is a DVD worth watching that tells the story of her life.

Spring is the season of new beginnings, new life and new hope. There is much in the world that is wrong, a source of gloom and despair for those serious thoughts when it seems nothing will stop “the forces of darkness” from overwhelming and taking over. I’ve noticed a new definition by some regarding whom they think is “the Anti-Christ” and where once many said it was the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church (which I have always privately thought rather silly) now I am hearing that it is Islam instead. I am not clued-up on these matters and prefer to stay out of the debate.

I notice that there are visitors to Judah’s Journal from several different Islamic countries ~ I have counted 16 so far, Islamic countries that is, and there may be more. If you are a Muslim reading these pages, then please know that they are not written with any hatred towards you as a person. An objective study of Islam does give much cause for alarm. Any belief system forced on another is a violation of that person’s freedom to choose. If you as a Muslim were forced to abandon your dearly held beliefs and made to confess those of another under pain of torture and death, would that not concern you as well? But the verse of the sword in your Qur’an says “But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)…..” (Surah 9:5) and “O ye who believe! Fight the Unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him” (Surah 9:123). These verses abrogate the gentle verse you prefer us to know, namely “But there is no compulsion in religion” (Surah 2:256). Christianity is never to be forced on another. That goes against everything that it is about. The freedom to choose gives one personal responsibility, and the denial of that is to take it away making one less of a person.

But what of new beginnings? It is hard sometimes to shelve these considerable concerns; they are weighty to bear. But in many ways they are like everything else in that too much of something causes a shift in balance that may not be helpful. We need some respite from the weariness of the journey, the anxieties and fears that would soon have us depressed and unable to go on. Like reading a book all weekend and not looking beyond will have your vision so fuzzy that you can’t see to drive. Or too much candy which will make you as sick as green apples, or too much sun burns and blisters your skin. With all the concerns around us, there is a great need to be able to “take time out” and put it aside for a while. For me there is nothing like being out in the garden early in the morning as the little dewey buds spread their new petals to greet the sun that rises each day. Yay, that’s me, a nature junkie!

And a poetry junkie as well. The following is one of my most loved poems of all time, written by my favourite poet of all time: