FAITH FILES

LAST week, friends and I walked across the fields to a wood high on a hill. On our way we saw clumps of fungus, all with different shapes patterns and colours, mosscovered drystone walls and panoramic views across the river valley of trees, ablaze in vibrant autumn hues beneath a tent of grey clouds.

Gradually, the clouds rolled away to reveal layers of lighter grey and white and blue sky, promising a sunny day.

The trees in our wood stood precariously balanced on the steep hillside. Walking through a cathedral-like archway of branches supported on pillars of trunks, some rough, some smooth, we watched squirrels race and leap from one high branch to another as they busily collected nuts, preparing for winter. Underfoot, was a carpet of burnished gold.

Soon the woods will stand naked, decaying plants standing like sentinels, or sadly bowing their heads. The carpet beneath us will turn to brown, its skeletal leaves disintegrating back into the earth.

The woodland will become a magical place of clinging mists, spider webs delicately suspended between branches, dew spangled dawns and shelter from sweeping wet grey rain. It may become a winter wonderland of snow quietly protecting everything. There will be a period of dormancy until the warmer weather returns, with the promise of growth and new life in spring.

Meanwhile, nature rests. The Bible tells us in Exodus 20, verses 8 – 11, that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world and commanded that we should keep the Sabbath day. Many people worship in a special holy building on this day but we don’t have to wait for the Sabbath to worship God. He is everywhere and can be worshipped any time, in our own special place.

Rachel Kenning, Café Writers, Derby Cathedral