A little Madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for a King,
But God be with the Clown —
Who ponders this tremendous scene —
This whole Experiment of Green —
As if it were his own! Emily Dickinson 1333
Deuteronomy 11.11-15 But the land [of promise] is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky, a land that the LORD your God looks after. The eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. If you will only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today – loving the LORD your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul - then he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; and he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.
Hymn: 104 For the beauty of the earth
O all you green plants, shrubs and trees,
Spring flowers and bright blossoms,
Praise the Lord who made you. Glorify his name!
i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any — lifted from the no
of all nothing — human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened) e e cummings, i thank you God
Spring Flowers
Bluebells
Emily Brontë, 1840
The Bluebell is the sweetest flower
That waves in summer air:
Its blossoms have the mightiest power
To soothe my spirit's care.
The daisy is a happy flower,
And comes at early spring,
And brings with it the sunny hour
When bees are on the wing.
It brings with it butterfly,
And early humble bee;
With the polyanthus' golden eye,
And blooming apple-tree.
Where the bee sucks, there suck I
In a cowslip's bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrily:
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.
Algernon Swinburne, Atalanta in Calydon, chorus stanza 4
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.
Hymn: 501 Now the green blade riseth
Spring animals and birds
Jubilate Deo, Psalm 100
O BE joyful in the Lord, all ye lands : serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song.Be ye sure that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves : we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise : be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name.
For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting : and his truth endureth from generation to generation.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Spirit ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen.
Reading: John 10.22-30
Hymn: 426 The Lord's my shepherd (Brother James' Air)
Lambs
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, & bid thee feed
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
softest clothing, wooly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and he is mild;
He became a little child.
I, a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
William Blake, The Lam
We sing, from the separate sheet, Benedicite, omnia opera
John Clare, Larks and Spring
To see the skylark as he springs
Shake mornings moisture from his wings
And rise and sing in music proud
Small as a bee beneath a cloud ...
A happy song the skylark brings
And spring's in every note he sings
In every field they mount and sing
The song of Nature and of Spring.
Our prayers, leading into the Lord's Prayer
Hymn: 202 Let all the world in every corner sing
James 5.7-8 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
from the Nestorian Evening Office
With request and beseeching,
we ask for the Angel of peace and mercy,
From thee O Lord.
Night and day throughout our life,
we ask for continued peace for thy Church,
From thee O Lord.
We ask continual love, which is the bond of perfectness,
with the confirmation of the Holy Spirit,
From thee O Lord.
We ask for forgiveness of sins and those things
which help our lives and please Thy Godhead,
From thee O Lord.
We ask the mercy and compassion of the Lord
continually and at all times,
From thee O Lord.
The Blessing
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