Cornwall Cogitation #4, 06 March 2016–Mothering Sunday saw more than 200 adults and children packed into St Anta & All Saints. A children’s choir sang an animated “If I were a butterfly.” At the end of the service all women received a bouquet of daffodils.

Daffodils, outside Carbis Bay

Daffodils raised for bulbs.

Flowers and foliage grace gardens and countryside. I’ve tried to capture some of the visual feasts we enjoy come rain, come shine. Above, the glorious daffodil, raised for fresh flowers and for bulbs.

Other flowers and foliage praise their Maker in the wild or in the garden.

Spernum.

Gorse, about to open.

Camillia.

Water plants and fish in King George V Memorial Garden in Hayle.

Primrose in a garden.

Snowdrops, as breathtaking as snowflakes..

Might be a Spoonbill, but don’t take my word for it.

Wild primroses in a drystone wall.

Walk home from Sunday lunch at Carbis Bay Hotel.

Chocolate lovers, eat up. Researchers have found that habitual  chocolate eating (small amounts at least a few time a week) has a beneficial effect on the brain. We know that, don’t we? Roberto A. Feldman, in an online article in the Washington Post (March 4), reports that one of the researchers said, “people who eat chocolate at least once a week tend to perform better cognitively.” One of the reasons is that cocoa flavanols increase blood flow to the brain. The tests did not yet differentiate any relative merits between dark or milk chocolate. In any case, enjoy a small amount of chocolate regularly without guilt, letting your enhanced cognition guard you against stuffing your face.

On Saturday Marty and I saw An Inspector Calls, at Hall for Cornwall in Truro. It’s a classic thriller by J.B. Priestley. The mysterious inspector Goole calls on the Birling family in a Midlands town in 1912 to investigate the death of Eva Smith. Suffice it to say we were totally engrossed in this compelling performance. We discussed it off and on all the way home on the train, with more of the message to be ferreted out.

Saturday was St Piran’s Day, patron saint of Cornwall. Having started as one of the many holidays observed by the tin miners of old, it’s now a chance to celebrate Cornwall’s heritage and identity. The Cornish flag, the flag of St Piran, symbolizes white tin on Cornish soil.

My reading of chapter 3 in On the Pilgrim’s’ Way covered themes Nelson summarized as “Doing many tasks for God cannot be a substitute for a living relationship with Jesus.” “Forgiving enemies is one of the hardest lessons to learn.” We need a faith community around us to enable us to live out the teachings of Jesus.” A number of sources I came across recently underscore that relationships is what makes life good. May our faith communities help us build and maintain close, intimate relationships for the well-being of all.

In February we walked 82 miles, a few of those at home before we hopped across the pond. Rains have confined our walks to well-drained paths, out of the mud. I just read an article today about elderly people in the north-west part of Romania who submerge themselves in a sludge (a by-product of salt mining techniques once employed in the town) that they claim has rejuvenating qualities.  When Communism ended in the country, the people in the region had no bars, clubs or cinemas. It came to the mud baths to give them a sense of community. Now take that to the community table at your favorite coffee shop or other gathering place. Build community in whatever place you find yourself–for us, that could be a muddy walk, hopefully not a mud bath.

Parting thoughts: Douglas Copland says “There are three things we cry for in life: things that are lost, things that are found, and things that are magnificent.” And if the suffering of the world makes us cry, let us, as Desmond Tutu writes, come to “see the world with more loving, forgiving humble, generous eyes.”

Best! -John